Did that really just happen?

“Did that really just happen? The Royals won eight games in-a-row and are in the World Series?” I asked my wife this morning.

“Yes,” she said, with a smile.

***

I watched the Wild Card game from a hotel in Chicago and I was  frustrated. It seemed October baseball wasn’t coming to Kansas City. Down by four runs in the eighth. Jon Lester was being, well, Jon Lester and all seemed lost.

Then, something unreal happened. In my mind, this was the closest thing to the U.S. Olympic Team’s “Miracle on Ice” (or at least my generation’s baseball version of it). The Royals came back, tied the game and won it on a Salvador Perez walkoff single.

From there, the Royals would not be denied. You know the rest. The mighty Angels and Orioles played competitive baseball, but the Royals found ways to win. It seemed like a Disney movie where players are getting superpowers. One opposing player mused that the Royals just willed it when they wanted to score — and they did.

The pitching has been good, the defense has been spectacular and the offense has been just good enough (despite the home run binge in Baltimore).

It’s just like Dayton and Ned drew it up.

Did that really just happen?

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