Oct 14, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; A view of a postseason sign in the outfield before game three of the 2014 NLCS playoff baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Well, it’s settled. The 2014 World Series matches up the San Francisco Giants against the Kansas City Royals. As an A’s fan, the question is this: who are we supposed to root for? For many A’s fans, the simple solution after the collapse against the Royals in that exciting and emotionally draining AL Wild Card game was to declare baseball season over, look forward to Spring Training, and dive feet first into football and hockey season. But for those of us that are A’s fans, and huge fans of baseball, we have been picking sides. In recent years, A’s fans were forced to make a horrifying choice: do we root for the team that eliminated us (unlikely) or the Giants (possibly more unlikely)?
"Wild card teams meeting in World Series for only second time ever. #SFGiants were part of previous occasion too, vs #Angels ’02.-Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 17, 2014"
While many of us are still angry or upset that the Royals eliminated us, do those feelings outweigh your hatred for the Giants? For many fans, the answer is no. However, there is also a subsection of A’s fans that have no ill feelings towards the Giants, or their fans. If that’s the case, I guess we know which team you’ll be rooting for in the World Series. My hunch is the majority will be rooting for the Royals as they make their first World Series appearance since 1985.
At first, A’s fans were divided about the Royals. We were placed in a similar situation to the ALDS as we are now with the World Series. Do you root for the team that eliminated you, or do you root for the (shudders) Angels? Yes, there were some that wanted nothing more than to see the Royals eliminated but most agreed our hatred to the Angels superseded that. The ALDS was when many A’s fans slowly began to rally behind the team that hadn’t seen the postseason in 29 years. Personally, I never need a reason or excuse to root against the Angels so my choice was simple: I had to back the Royals.
But many of us are thinking “That could be us…” Yes, that horrible and agonizing feeling does still linger. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t still upset at our loss and there are days that I’m not that excited to watch the postseason games. Then I realize, who am I kidding? I love baseball and like it or not, the Royals are an incredibly exciting team to watch (OK. Maybe we, as A’s fans, just liked watching the Royals sweep and eliminate the Angels).
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Should A’s fans side with the Royals since our franchise was once in Kansas City? Does that make any difference whatsoever? How can you root against a team that hasn’t seen the postseason since “Careless Whisper” was the number one song of the year? Meanwhile the Giants are back in the World Series for 3rd time in the last 5 years (4th since 2002). I can’t tell you how aggravating hearing “even year magic” has become.
Until this year, the Royals haven’t been to the postseason since 1985. During that time the Giants have seen the postseason 9 times. You know what? Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Royals sweep the Giants in the World Series.
That could just be because it makes me feel better about the A’s losing, at least we aren’t alone.
The Giants do have an advantage that we can’t ignore. This is Postseason/World Series tested team. A lack of October experience has not even slightly slowed down the Royals, so perhaps it won’t matter. Can Buster Posey stop the Royals running game? Can the Royals outrun the Giants “even year magic?” Can the Royals hit long balls of Bumgarner? The Royals already swept the Giants in the regular season, will they repeat that success? It will certainly be an interesting matchup. Did anyone else predict two of the Wild Card teams meeting in the World Series? Hunter Pence sure predicted he would be there. Or mistakenly believed he was there after simply clinching a spot in the playoffs. We will never know the truth.
So let me know, who are you rooting for? Who do you actually think will win? Will the Royals remain undefeated in Postseason 2014 or will the Giants’ “even year magic” beat them?
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