GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AllThingsKC]

So, when can we be expecting that apology letter from Dayton Moore?

(Just got back the game and wanted to post something.)

[chaglang]

@BlairKerkhoff The #Royals, down 7-3 in 8th, hadn't scored more than 7 runs in a game since Aug. 17, span of 39 games.

The Fangraphs in-game Win Expectancy chart looked like this:


At the low points - the 8th and the 12th - the Royals had a 3% and 10% chance of winning, respectively.

And the A's continue a habit of absolutely brutal playoff losses. A friend who is an A's fan ranked this just below their losses to the Yankees in 2001 and the Red Sox in 2003.

The ball Perez hit was an off-speed pitch that started on the outside edge of the plate and broke away. Sal was so far out in front of the pitch that he managed to pull a ball 6" off the outside of the plate past a 3rd baseman shading the line a step or two. That's clean living.

[bobbyhawks]

I do not understand what I watched last night. So, for the rest of the season, I feel like I should try not to understand anything the Royals do. Yost did so many Yost-like things, giving up outs and overthinking things... but he led the Royals to one of, if not the best base-stealing performances in post-season history, and the team just willed its way to victory. What a day to be a Royals fan!

[brewcrew1000]

I can't believe jeff samardzija was left off the 25 man roster in this game, Hammel has been awful since he left the cubs, they benched the wrong guy in this game.

This is our Dewey defeats Truman moment
http://deadspin.com/mlb-com-runs-royals ... 1641093117

[mean]

I thought FOR SURE this game was Yosted when he pulled Shields and Ventura gave up the homer. I gave up on it. I was shocked to get up this morning and realize that not only did the Royals win, but it actually got much worse before it got better. Holy crap! I do not know what is real anymore.

[AllThingsKC]

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

[WSPanic]

So, just to confirm - that wasn't a real playoff game? Just kidding.

It was a great experience out there. I honestly never thought I would get to witness something like that live for my team in my lifetime.

[shinatoo]

Let's Get Weird!!

I hate to quote GMDM but "It feels like we won the world series."

[brewcrew1000]

Poor A's fans if there are any, the game is nowhere to be found on the front page of the Oakland Tribune
Bay Area viewers were spared the agony when cable service was briefly disrupted just as the final pitch of the A's season was being delivered.

[beautyfromashes]

The stadium was packed from beginning to end. No one gave up on this team out there and I think the Royals fed off of it. Best game I've ever seen. Was Billy Butler really trying to steal 2nd?!?!

[aknowledgeableperson]

In listening to comments by players and all after the game the decisions made during the game, whether they worked or not, was how the team wanted to play the game. For pitching bring on the heat after 5 if needed and be aggressive on the base paths. It was up to the players to execute. Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't.

[WSPanic]

The stadium was packed from beginning to end. No one gave up on this team out there and I think the Royals fed off of it. Best game I've ever seen. Was Billy Butler really trying to steal 2nd?!?!

No - According to Ned it was a stupid attempt to "steal" a run by drawing a throw from the catcher to second and allowing Hosmer to take the run. Ned said Billy was supposed to wait for the throw to go home and left early. For several reasons, it seems like a bad idea - especially down 0-2 in the count with two outs. If there's a K, you've shown your hand for no apparent reason.

[bobbyhawks]

The stadium was packed from beginning to end. No one gave up on this team out there and I think the Royals fed off of it. Best game I've ever seen. Was Billy Butler really trying to steal 2nd?!?!

There were a long list of questionable calls from our skipper, but my head almost exploded when he actually admitted during the in-game interview that there was a plan to have Butler try to take off early for second base... with Gordon up... and a runner on third... and two outs. That Butler bungled the actual steal play does not change the fact that there was actually a plan to steal there.

[aknowledgeableperson]

As I said it was up to the players to execute.

After Jon Lester got a second strike on Alex Gordon, Butler started walking toward second base. Not running, is if to steal, walking, as if to ... well, walk.

He had looked at first base coach Rusty Kuntz before strolling, and if it seemed as if the Royals had a play on ... they did.

But things went wrong.






“Well, that play broke down on both ends,” Royals manager Ned Yost said in a dugout interview on TBS. “Billy left too soon.”

The idea was to let Lester make the pitch, then take off for second. Eric Hosmer was at third and the Royals would attempt a delayed double steal with Hosmer breaking for home upon Geovany Soto’s throw to second. Butler, apparently was never supposed to reach second.

The Royals went into the game wanting to make things happening in the running game, and perhaps that had its origin in a scout report.

A week earlier, the Angels’ Erick Aybar scored from third when teammate Efren Navarro was caught between first and second on a double steal with Soto catching.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/ka ... rylink=cpy

[beautyfromashes]

As I said it was up to the players to execute.

After Jon Lester got a second strike on Alex Gordon, Butler started walking toward second base. Not running, is if to steal, walking, as if to ... well, walk.

He had looked at first base coach Rusty Kuntz before strolling, and if it seemed as if the Royals had a play on ... they did.

But things went wrong.






“Well, that play broke down on both ends,” Royals manager Ned Yost said in a dugout interview on TBS. “Billy left too soon.”

The idea was to let Lester make the pitch, then take off for second. Eric Hosmer was at third and the Royals would attempt a delayed double steal with Hosmer breaking for home upon Geovany Soto’s throw to second. Butler, apparently was never supposed to reach second.

The Royals went into the game wanting to make things happening in the running game, and perhaps that had its origin in a scout report.

A week earlier, the Angels’ Erick Aybar scored from third when teammate Efren Navarro was caught between first and second on a double steal with Soto catching.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/ka ... rylink=cpy

So, Butler was a sacrificial pig?

[aknowledgeableperson]

Sounds like Butler was to fake a steal to force a throw to second. When the catcher releases the ball the runner on third breaks for home. As in the article the play does work, it just wasn't executed.

[bobbyhawks]

Sounds like Butler was to fake a steal to force a throw to second. When the catcher releases the ball the runner on third breaks for home. As in the article the play does work, it just wasn't executed.

So, you're not even going to admit there are some players who aren't really ideal for such a play? I'm pretty sure anyone who has played little league ball has seen the play work.

[aknowledgeableperson]

If Butler executed it correctly then it should work. He was not a sacrificial lamb. And just about any baseball player should be able to execute the play on his end, it isn't that complicated as you pointed out. It was a good call, just poorly executed by Butler. He has the skills to do it, looks like he was kinda lost out there instead.

He has stolen bases in the past. True, not a great base runner but he doesn't have to be a great one to pull it off.

[grovester]

Who was there? Prove it!

http://mlb.mlb.com/photos/gigapan/?c_id ... &year=2014

[chaglang]

Ignoring the logic behind calling a double steal with two outs and the team's best offensive threat:

Butler's last stolen base was in 2012. He has 5 in his career. He's also the slowest player on the team. Thinking he can keep a rundown going while Hosmer - who isn't very fast himself - steals home is dubious at best. An average player might be able to pull it off, but Butler has below average speed. That's no secret. It made as much sense as if Yost would have pinch hit Gore for Butler. An average player might get a hit, but Gore has a below average bat.