Oct 26 2015 05:21 AM
Mets and Royals Share Many Common Threads (Not Just the Blue Ones)
By TYLER KEPNER OCT. 25, 2015
| The 111th World Series begins Tuesday night with the first of two games at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The Royals’ home park, it has hosted three World Series before — in 1980, 1985 and 2014 — while Citi Field, the site of Games 3 through 5, hosts its first. Here’s a look at some of the off-the-field sights, sounds and connections between these infrequent rivals, who, through a scheduling quirk, will also meet on opening day next April 4 in Kansas City. FIRST EXPANSION MATCHUP Major League Baseball first expanded in 1961, with the Mets joining the National League the next season and the Royals making their debut in the American League in 1969. That season, the Mets became the first N.L. expansion team to reach the World Series, and in 1980, the Royals became the first A.L. team to do it. Incredibly, though, this is the first World Series matchup ever between two expansion teams. DOMINICAN DOMINANCE The Royals’ top three starting pitchers — Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura — are among the 76 natives of the Dominican Republic to pitch in the majors this year. The three have combined for 505 career starts, just barely more than the Mets’ Bartolo Colon, the career leader in games started by a Dominican pitcher, with 467. Colon, who won the National League Championship Series clincher in relief, is seeking his first career appearance in the World Series. PENNANTS PASSED DOWN Jerry Koosman got the final out of the Mets’ first World Series championship, against Baltimore in 1969 (on a fly ball by the future Mets manager Davey Johnson). When the Mets traded Koosman to Minnesota after the 1978 season, they received a pitching prospect named Jesse Orosco, who went on to record the final out of the Mets’ other championship, in 1986. The Mets’ last two pennant winners also share a connection. When Mike Hampton, the most valuable player in the 2000 N.L.C.S., left as a free agent for Colorado, the Mets used their compensatory draft pick on a Virginia high school player named David Wright, who, of course, became the captain of the 2015 N.L. champions. TRUE TO THE BLUE The Mets and the Royals both have clean, crisp uniforms with the same cap logos they have worn during their entire existence. (And, no, the Mets’ interlocking N.Y. does not stand for Ned Yost.) Both teams have a classic script wordmark on their home jerseys that is essentially unchanged over time, and both committed the same fashion faux pas in the same era. The Royals wore alternate black jerseys from 2002 to 2005, during the period when the Mets wore the color often. The Mets, who wore black jerseys for Games 1 and 4 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees, finally dropped black from their color scheme in 2012. FUNNY FANS With Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Jimmy Kimmel and Jim Breuer, the Mets count plenty of comedians among their fans. Heck, Bill Maher is even a minority owner. But the Royals have a strong following in the comedy world, too. Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet and Rob Riggle are well known around Kauffman Stadium — and their fandom is not just recent. “Nobody can dislike you for being a Royals fan,” Rudd said in a 2011 interview on MLB.com. “People are like, ‘Oh, that’s cute.’ But they’re a team to be reckoned with — they will be.” OUTFIELD ATTRACTIONS Both ballparks have a distinctive feature just beyond the outfield fence — the Home Run Apple at Citi Field and the fountains at Kauffman Stadium. But the fan pavilions behind those attractions are really the place to be. Among other features at Citi Field, you’ll find a Wiffle ball diamond, a dunk tank and, of course, Shake Shack. But the outfield plaza at “The K” is a virtual wonderland for young fans. Besides the usual baseball-themed interactive attractions, there is a playground, a carousel and a five-hole miniature golf course. And, naturally, a picnic area with a barbecue pit. BALLPARK SONGS Paul McCartney and Billy Joel have played together at Citi Field, but it is Billy who gets the singalong every eighth inning when the loudspeakers play “Piano Man” — an odd choice redeemed a bit by the presence of a cheery Terry Collins on the scoreboard during the line “The manager gives me a smile.” As upbeat ballpark songs go, it is hard to beat McCartney and the Beatles belting out “Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey,” which plays at Kauffman Stadium after every Royals win. The Beatles opened with that song when they played at the old Municipal Stadium in 1964. MASCOTS The last time these franchises won the World Series, neither had a mascot. The Mets had scrapped Mr. Met throughout the 1980s, reviving him in the mid-1990s around the time the Royals introduced Sluggerrr — yes, with three r’s. Sluggerrr is a musclebound lion whose gold crown blends into his face in a Bart Simpson kind of way. Sluggerrr is 7 feet tall (two inches taller than Mr. Met), and seems more aggressive than his New York counterpart. According to the Mets’ website, Mr. Met throws “T-shirts, Cracker Jacks, and great parties” — while the Royals’ website says Sluggerrr throws “Hot dogs, T-shirts, and visiting fans out of the park!” The mascots, who follow each other on Twitter, have at least one thing in common: They both wear uniform number 00. COMMON ALUMNI The teams could put together a solid rotation of pitchers who worked for both, including David Cone, Bret Saberhagen, Kevin Appier, Rick Reed and Glendon Rusch. The Royals’ Game 4 starter in the A.L.C.S., Chris Young, pitched for the Mets in 2011 and 2012, and the Mets’ hitting coach, Kevin Long, spent his eight-year minor league career with the Royals. Amos Otis hit .151 for the 1969 Mets and — after a regrettable trade for Joe Foy — made five All-Star teams for the Royals, spending several years playing for the Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, who had overseen his development as the Mets’ farm director. Other position players who wore both uniforms include Carlos Beltran, Jeff Francoeur and Gregg Jefferies. One player who spent his career exclusively with the teams is the former pitcher Brian Bannister, who sent this tweet after the matchup was set: “My #Mets jerseys have already started talking trash to my #Royals jerseys.” |
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