Party like its 2014

The fact that the world has not yet ended is amazing. Consider the facts:

The Kansas City Royals are going to the World Series. Their manager is Ned Yost, who has a career win percentage of 47.9%. Yost was labeled a “dunce” by the Wall Street Journal. The Royals have only had 20 seasons in their 45-year history where they won more games than they lost. They hadn’t been to the playoffs in almost 3 decades. They have the second oldest player in the MLB in Raul Ibanez.

All of those signs indicate that if they made it to the World Series that voodoo devil magic was involved and/or the world was coming to an end. Yet here we are and the world continues to spin. Consider how they got here:

Lorenzo Cain, the ALCS Most Valuable Player, batted 8 for 15 in the ALCS with an On-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percent of 1.255. He had 10 total bases in just 4 games. He also caught everything hit his way, prompting the following meme:

Eric Hosmer, the Wizard of Hoz, has 2 home runs, 8 RBI’s, and 22 total bases in 8 postseason games this year. And he also bought KC fans a beer because HE IS AWESOME. In an age where athletes are leaving 20 cent tips at restaurants, this is nuts.

Alex Gordon, the 3-time Gold Glove winner, will run through a wall to catch a ball hit towards him. He literally changed the way the Orioles played in Game 3 when they held a runner at third base rather than attempt to challenge his golden arm from left field. And I love the pic below because it reminds me of this video clip (fast forward to the 3:27 mark).

Ned Yost, the oft-criticized and much-maligned but longest-tenured Royals manager ever, is now the first manager in MLB history to win his first 8 postseason games. The Royals are the only team ever to start a postseason with 8 straight wins. Kudos to the ‘dunce.’ Please check out this incredible Vine of Ned Yost in the dugout. It will make your day...

Mike Moustakas, who actually spent time in the minor leagues this season, has hit 4 home runs in the playoffs and made two amazing plays that helped preserve the Royals game 4 victory over the Orioles. He practically sacrificed his body for the team, leading to questions as to what would it take to keep him from going after foul balls. The answer? Nothing.

There are countless other examples: Jarrod Dyson’s speed and throwing at a runner at third from the outfield, Sal Perez’s game-winning hit against the A’s, Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera striking out everyone, Greg Holland saving ALL 4 GAMES OF THE ALCS, etc. etc. There is not enough room to discuss them all, so I will leave you with this picture of Lorenzo Cain getting his sweep on: