Drama, betrayal and revenge: A look at Royals' home runs

I don’t really feel like talking about the Royals’ woes today. They were fairly awful last night, mostly because they can’t hit with any modicum of power. It also feels like the Royals are incapable of generating winning streaks of more than 3 games, which is something they need to do to get ahead of Detroit. They can't win them all, but it would sure be nice to go on a tear and grab the lead in the AL Central.

  

It has been such a long time since I have seen a Royals home run that I have forgotten what they look like. Rather than whine about their futility, I thought I would provide some happy videos of Royals’ home runs, which are now on the endangered species list. Enjoy them while you can folks:

Here are three of the Royals' home runs during MLB All-Star games; George, Frank, and Bo. Classic. Kind of a long video but worth the watch.

 

Here's a "revenge" video of Alex Gordon smacking one against Zack Greinke at Kauffman in 2012. That's what you get for wanting to leave KC. Not the best quality but revenge always feels good, especially when you feel betrayed.

 For all you Yankee haters, here is a classic video of George Brett smacking 3 home runs. My personal favorite is the upper decker. Suck it NY.

Another oldie, but goldie: Willie Wilson inside the park, against the Yankees, no less. I was not able to embed this video for some reason, but check it out. If you don't get goosebumps watching him round third, you are not a Royals fan. 

If you asked me who my favorite Royals player was as a child, I would tell you Danny Tartabull. Here's why:

Finally, my favorite Royals' home run ever. Let me describe the scene, which is one of drama, betrayal, and revenge: It is Sunday, September 22, 2013, a beautiful day and Kauffman is packed. The Rangers are in town, and James Shields has pitched a fantastic game with the all-too-typical lack of run support. The score is 0-0 after 9 innings. The Royals had traded for Justin Maxwell at the trade deadline in July, and he had provided some decent at-bats, but nothing memorable so far. In the bottom of the 10th inning, after relievers Greg Holland and Tim Collins kept the Rangers off the scoreboard, Eric Hosmer hit a leadoff double to left field. The Rangers, who had signed former All-Star closer for the Royals Joakim Soria in 2012, decided to bring in the right-hander to face Billy Butler. Butler was intentionally walked to set up a double play; however, Salvador Perez didn't want any of that and hit safely into an infield single. This meant the bases were loaded with no outs in the bottom of the 10th inning against the pitcher who used to close these games out for KC. To add to the drama, the Rangers needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and it was the last home game of the season for the Royals (whose playoff hopes had already been crushed). 

I was watching the game from home in Lubbock, TX. I always enjoy watching Soria pitch, although I feel that he has not been the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2012. Soria looked like he was re-gaining his dominant form as he got Mike Moustakas to pop out, then George Kottaras grounded out. Thus, there were two outs when Justin Maxwell stepped up to the plate. Since there were two outs, a flyout would end the inning, so Maxwell needed a walk or a hit for the Royals to win. Maxwell worked a full count, getting most of Kauffman Stadium on its feet for the final pitch. Soria knew he had to throw a strike as a walk would cost him the game. As he wound up, I could only guess what was going through Maxwell's mind, but the end result is a thing of beauty. There was absolutely no question that JUSTIN MAXWELL JUST OWNED JOAKIM SORIA AND THE RANGERS FOR ALL OF TIME AND THUS, THE LEGEND OF JUSTIN "SMACKS-WELL" WAS BORN.

 

 Here is another view of the home run:

 

And another view...just fantastic stuff. I wish he would hit some dingers this year. SIGH

 

Despite the Royals relatively short history as a franchise, and their total lack of home runs this year, you can see they have a rich history of drama, revenge, and betrayal. They will need some more of that (Omar Infante we are looking at you) to beat the stupid Tigers this weekend.