November 5, 2015

World Series Champs and Other Wonders

We have lived life to the fullest in an abundance of autumn adventures. It’s been unbelievably exhilarating and exhausting as well.

The really good kind of tired…

Accomplishment and exhaustion can go hand in hand. After you’ve run a marathon, hiked a mountain, or had a baby, you feel spent in each and every muscle, all emotions, and most mental capacities. It’s a very satisfying sleepiness. When you’ve stayed awake all night to write a paper, finish a project, or accomplish a task that ends up completed before morning, turning it in and walking away feels so good you can make it through the few hours you have to live before a nap.

Waking up on Monday morning, November 2nd, at 4:45am, meant I had slept for 3.5 tossing and turning hours. I was up to coach the early class at the gym and awoke very tired but very exhilerated. The Royals had won the World Series at 11:30pm the night before. I had sweated, waited, began to lose hope, then jumped, cheered, ran, hugged, screamed and celebrated with high fives, hugs, and spraying champagne. Most all of my favorite Missouri people were gathered in one room and we had soaked it in past midnight. Drew and I went to bed at 1:30am with smiles, and still a bit of disbelief, on our faces. I was tired on Monday morning. A very satisfied kind of sleepy.

For the 2015 Postseason, Sunday night’s capstone was a most perfect ending to what became an unbelievable, unprecedented, and very, very fun to watch, October.

Unbelievable and unprecedented because:

Royals Post season record: 11-5 That’s a lot of wins and not very many losses- but shows they didn’t win by sweeping and knocking other teams out. They fought and clamored for almost every single win!
Runs scored after the 7th inning: Royals: 40, Other Teams: No more than 5
Runs scored after the 6th inning: Royals: 51, Other Teams: No more than 11 combined across all games.
*The Royals trailed by at least two runs and came back to win in seven of the 11 games! (in six games, they trailed into the 6th inning!)
*In the World Series itself, the Royals were down in ALL FIVE games. They went on to win in three games in which they trailed in the eighth inning or later. *World Series Record
We met the Moose Man at Hyvee!

Call to the Banana pen?

People said and wrote about “…keeping the line moving one hit at a time”, “…never saying ‘Quit'”, “…never believing it was over or out of reach”, players that comprised a power line-up, a manager that just let them play, and a GM who crafted a team six years ago with defense, charisma, speed on the bases, and solid pitching in mind, and who made moves along the way to make it actually happen.

The city thanked the team for bringing baseball’s biggest victory back here after 30 years, for bringing a city together in rallying cheers, and giving us a month- long party.

The team thanked the city for unwavering support, attendance, spirit, fervor, and interest.

Gratitude did indeed appear to be the atmosphere at the celebration parade on Tuesday. With streets backed up and packed in, with roofs and trees dangling people from edges, a whole city wore blue and came to one small part of the city to cheer on a team that couldn’t help but humbly take in the crowd and wave back. We walked from North Kansas City for 1.9 miles to be four people deep with great views of the players, coaches, and families on their trucks.

Tuesday November 3rd was a holiday in Kansas City and should continue to be until we win again. It was the best sort of snow day there could ever be. A “snow day” with sunshine and closed offices and cancelled appointments and everyone from child to elderly executive, with obvious martyrs (think essential medical personnel and waiters and bartenders who worked for everyone’s party day!) and naysayers (people who don’t care about sports at all- even transcendent sport moments, I guess) in-between, together in one crowded place, with one common celebration and a kind and easy-going spirit. The mass of blue-clad humanity swarmed the Station and showed the world how many people have come to care in KC.

As a small piece of the blue mass, our personal postseason included:

Morning newspaper pour-over sessions. Reading high lights and predecitions, soul stories and moving recaps. Appreciating the pictures and the personalities as a whole family.
Late nights out and about. With no cable TV to supply the channels for the Division or Championship Series, we packed up our family to watch games at Chris and Melissa’s, a Ruby Tuesday restaurant, our new neighbor’s the Ponds, Jim and Jan Bruce’s house, Gayle and Steve Osborne’s house, bits of it at Young Life watch parties at Tate Summa’s house, and Mike and Carol Graves’ house. Our kids were late night troopers who watched, played, or read while the comebacks roared through living rooms and basements.
Radio game calls– the ALCS Game 2 against the Blue Jays was a late innings comeback that we listened to at home on our radio on a Saturday afternoon. Nothing beat the ALDS Game 4 however against the Astros where I listened with Oaks in the basement here at home.
Special food and drinks: World Series Game 1 salmon at home, ALCS Game 6 fried green tomatoes and guac at the Graves, a Crown Royal shot before World Series Game 4 for “Taking the Crown” good luck, Minsky’s “fancy” pizza at James and Laura’s for WS Game 2, the Blue Walk off at Chappels on parade day, and much more. Eli, Andi and Oaks talked us into more sugar and pop drinking than we usually allow because, “Hey, it is the Woooorld Serieees!”
Their FIRST post season game. Andi and Eli got in on the gift of attending ALCS Game 1 at Kauffman where we had seats in right field from which we saw the 5-0 victory over those power-hitting Blue Jays. Quotable game moments: “Andi, watch this pitch. This is a big pitch.”- Drew’s very true but very un-seven-year-old girl appropriate comment in the 8th inning of a long baseball day. And, “Throw him a chair!”– the yelling adage from exuberant and repetitive fan in the section next to us and right on top of James and Laura. He was montonous but accurate- the Royals pitching “sat down” many a Blue Jay.
Cumulative efforts. What I loved and will remember is how much every player on the team contributed in some way game after game. I appreciate the very literal “team” approach they took to wrestling their way to a win or clawing the victory away from the other team. They attacked as a group and won with and because of each other. Most of our watch parties came together with a team effort as well!
THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER. October 31st was a Saturday. Eli and Andi played their last soccer game on their coed, 2nd and 3rd grade, YMCA soccer team. Quinton and Erica game from St. Louis and got to see the two games. Then we worked as a family to get ready for our 6th annual Halloween party. People came at 5:00pm in costume and bearing side dishes and goodies. They indulged me my games for which even the weather cooperated. As extended family and friends came through for pictures and greetings and good, good food our party total topped 44 people and two dogs. Twenty or so stayed for the duration of World Series Game 4 which started at 7pm (the first hour of which we did our trick-or-treating with Oaks absolutely appreciating every second of it audibly), and was displayed on two TVs in our house. Yes, we borrowed a TV for the big game. Half the people watched in the family room (six people on my new sectional- a dream realized!) and half in the kitchen (including me with a seat way too close to the Candy Corn mix!). We all got to watch the Royals come back to win in the 8th. Seriously a wild adventure and a wonderful way to watch a win- with a house-full of great people and kids full of candy. And finally, a daylight savings gift that gave us an hour back that night we’d very much need for the next game.
Big Life Moments: Oakley turned 3 on October 11th- ALDS game 3 (a loss!) and we switched him to a big-boy bed on October 27th. He grew up as the Royal’s clinched titles. I held my two big fall Young Life retreats around ALCS games 5 and 6. Heavy hearted, I went to a funeral in Springfield for my staff friend who lost her 29 year old son to an ocean accident on the day of World Series Game 1.

Hope comes up from creeping defeat. A celebration for some is a season ending sadness for others. Joy can stand right next to fear and gloom. A night of striking out can end in a single that turns the tone of the game. The Royals journey to the World Series and come from behind winning of that series, gave us a schedule altering, blood pressure raising, community building, party excusing, memory-making fall.

Thank you Royals for doing your job with a passion for excellence, attention to hard work, and concern for others. Thank you for playing when your own life was falling apart and your body was beat up. We appreciate the show, the adventure, and the victory.

Reign well, Crowned Champions.

Appendix 1:

Below are photos of where we were and the differing levels of tired our kids were when the Royals actually WON THE WORLD SERIES!

Appendix 2: Little somethin-somethin extra I found…Here are great videos of the final World Series Game- Game 5 on Sunday November 1st. Courteous of MLB.com.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v527669683/must-c-comeback-royals-rally-to-tie-game-in-9th/?game_pk=446277&mode=video&partnerId=LR_highlight and http://m.mlb.com/video/v527627783/ws2015-gm5-royals-take-lead-with-five-runs-in-12th/?game_pk=446277&mode=video&partnerId=LR_highlights