Member of the Kansas City Royals celebrates after Game 5 of the Major League Baseball World Series against the New York Mets Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in New York. The Royals won 7-2 to win the series. (AP)
It’s been less than a week since the Kansas City Royals trumped the New York Mets in Game 5 to win the World Series for the first time since 1985 and I think I’m sadder than a Mets fans. I’m not sad because the Mets lost, although I would have been happy for my Mets loving best friend who spent the entire series two inches from the TV.
I’m sad because the end of the World Series means 105 days until baseball is back. If it weren’t for hockey or college basketball, these next three and a half months would go by even slower. Now that the series is over, I picked the World Series apart in terms of the best and worst moments.
One of the best parts of this series was watching Mets outfielder Michael Conforto. The 22-year-old rookie gave New York a fighting chance in Game 4, giving them the first lead of the game in the third inning with a bomb over right field. Conforto helped extend the Mets lead to 3-2 in the fifth with another shot to right. While the Mets lost in the end, the young outfielder is giving New York fans something to look forward to in the future.
One of the biggest and most deciding plays of the final series came in the top of the ninth in Game 5 with Salvador Perez at the plate. Perez grounded out to David Wright with Eric Hosmer at third. Wright sent Hosmer back to the bag then Hosmer shocked everyone. Taking off from third, Hosmer managed to score on one of the riskiest plays of the series to tie the game and force extra innings.
Now this play fits into both categories. For the Royals, this was one of the best plays. Some may call it luck, but I call it incredibly smart base running. The timing of his decision making had to be so precise to make this play a success, and Hosmer perfected it. However, his scoring play was made easier by a terrible throw from Mets first baseman Lucas Duda. Wright had thrown it to Duda for the out at first and Duda had to quickly try for the out at home. His throw was nowhere near the plate, allowing Hosmer to score. While Duda didn’t have the best throw, it’s tough to expect more on a play that happened so quickly and was so unexpected. Either way, it was ingenious base running by Hosmer and one of the most exciting plays of the game and of the series.
Now onto the worst plays. I hate to say it but Daniel Murphy. During the NLCS, Mets fans went crazy over Murphy. During the regular season, Murphy hit 14 homeruns in his 499 at bats. In the postseason? Murphy homered seven times in 58 at bats. His postseason play was a mystery even to Mets fans, who watched his mediocre performance all season. Murphy’s hitting streak eventually ended, and the 30-year-old second baseman recorded an error in Game 4 that some are calling the most costly error in World Series history.
Another one of the worst parts of the series as a neutral fan was listening to Joe Buck and Harold Reynolds call the games. Part of me was thankful when the Fox TV truck lost signal in Game 1, as I was relieved from listening to the Buck-Reynolds duo.
“Harold Reynolds is making this so much worse than it already is,” Barstool blogger and die-hard Mets fan Kevin Clancy tweeted Sunday. While I agree with Clancy, we were all lucky to listen to Reynolds. If he hadn’t been there, who would have pointed out that during Game 5 when the Mets were down 3-1 in the series, “the pressure was more on the Mets than the Royals?”
And finally the worst part of the Series: baseball is over. So Royals fans, Mets fans, whoever you are, we can all sit on the couch together and pretend to care about the NBA until pitchers and catchers report in February.
Mary Burkhardt is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at mary.burkhardt@uconn.edu.
