As both a fan favorite and a key part of the lineup, it is likely the Royals push to bring Gordon back to Kansas City, though several other teams will be in the market for his services.
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Most Improved- This is an easy award to give out because there is one Royal in particular who took his production to the next level this postseason, and that is World Series MVP Salvador Perez.
The Royals won the 2015 World Series one year after dropping the title to the Giants.
In his last five seasons as a Royal, from 2012 through 2015, Gordon is a.281/.359/.450 hitter in 728 regular season games.
Game 2 featured a magnificent pitching performance by Johnny Cueto of the Royals. Of course, he is technically correct: no one has ever hit a home run on a strikeout. Coincidentally, that game will be against the Mets.
Three times, he was called on for more than a closer’s customary three outs.
Waving signs and cheering, fans saluted team players and officials, with Royals manager Ned Yost hoisting the World Series trophy high into the air for spectators to see when the caravan turned into Union Station.
If Gordon does not decide to return, the Royals believe they have a good chance to fill his role without much of a setback. We know this isn’t going to last. Once again, I thought of the 1986 Series when the Mets won Game 3 by six runs. Sadly, that’s where the similarities would end.
He scored the go-ahead run in a frenetic comeback over the Astros in Game 4 of the Division Series.
However, in the bottom of the ninth, Gordon crushed a home run to center field, sending the game into extras.
To peg the Royals as postseason underdogs would be revisionist history, but they weren’t favorites either.
Game 5 was a must-win for the Mets, and who better to pitch than the “Dark Knight” himself Matt Harvey.
“It’s unbelievable what those guys did”, Gomes said, emphatically.
The Boston Red Sox made a big off-season splash, too, signing the two most expensive position players available, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Lucas Duda’s throw was offline and Hosmer slid to score easily, tying the game late for Kansas City. The Mets were supposed to be at least a year away from making the playoffs, let alone the World Series. Never before could those guys quantify in such an aesthetically stunning way how many people they’ve positively influenced by bringing a title to this town.
While this was nearly a foregone conclusion, it’s still nothing for Royals fans to be thrilled about.
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While watching the World Series could have convinced you otherwise, this is not a sustainable means of success, as clutch performance is not consistent on the team level. Led by then-No. 1 starter James Shields and one of the best bullpens in the Major League Baseball, Kansas City earned a wildcard playoff spot, defeated the Oakland Athletics and followed that comeback victory with sweeps of both the Los Angeles Angels and the Baltimore Orioles.
