Honoring the late Yogi Berra's legacy, the Kansas City Royals constantly proved it ain't over till it's over. The New York Mets led all five games of 2015's MLB World Series, but Kansas City kept earning the last laugh, securing its first championship in 30 years.
It finished just how it had begun. Trailing in the ninth inning, Kansas City clawed back and sent both Game 1 and Game 5 into extra innings. Once free baseball arrived, their prolific bullpen silenced New York's bats long enough for their pesky offense to eventually strike.
Anyone who says procrastination doesn't pay didn't watch Ned Yost's crew constantly crash the party fashionably late. It wasn't just the Mets getting their hearts broken, as the Houston Astros held a four-run lead over Kansas City during a winner-take-all Game 5 of the American League Division Series.
ESPN Stats & Info detailed the Royals' late-game heroics, which ultimately decided the Fall Classic:
Defensive miscues plagued the Mets throughout the series, but a rare Royals defensive mishap nearly cost them Game 1. Eric Hosmer showcased shades of Bill Buckner when a Wilmer Flores grounder rolled past his glove on a tiebreaking run during the eighth frame.
Luckily for him, Alex Gordon erased the mistake with a ninth-inning homer off closer Jeurys Familia, who had not surrendered a run in 9.2 prior postseason innings. The first baseman exhaled after avoiding a place in infamy, per Fox Sports Kansas City's Joel Goldberg:
By the series' hectic standards, the ensuing two games proved anticlimactic. The National League champions couldn't touch Johnny Cueto, who relinquished eight runs in his previous outing. The midseason acquisition who struggled throughout the summer suddenly regenerated into an ace, yielding two hits and one run through a complete-game victory.
Rany Jazayerli, a Grantland writer dating way back to last week, marveled over Cueto's redemption:
Meanwhile, Jacob deGrom couldn't get anybody to miss. The same ace who recorded 27 strikeouts through three NL playoff starts recorded two punchouts and zero whiffs on his fastball.
"We win because we ride our starting pitching," Mets manager Terry Collins said after Game 2, per Newsday's Marc Carig. "When they struggle, we're going to struggle, and that's what's happened."
These words proved increasingly prescient as the series progressed. He trusted Noah Syndergaard to escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning of Game 3, and Thor complied. In Citi Field's first-ever World Series game, Collins lived by his young ace and survived. In the other games, his long leash spurred their demise.
Cruising early, rookie Steven Matz suddenly looked gassed during Game 4's fifth inning, but he stayed in the sixth to cough up a second run. Rather than using Familia—who curiously pitched the previous night with a six-run lead—Collins turned to Tyler Clippard. The slumping setup man walked two batters, and Familia could not extinguish the burning building.
“We never put our heads down,” catcher Salvador Perez told Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star after pelting the go-ahead RBI single off Familia. “Never. We like to compete. We like to play hard. And we’ll see what happens at the end of the game. That’s what we do every game.”
Game 5 seemed different. Matt Harvey, whose postseason availability started in doubt due to a potential innings limit, hurled eight scoreless inning in front of a raucous Queens crowd. The 26-year-old had finally cracked Kansas City's code, collecting nine strikeouts to seemingly send the series back to Missouri.
Collins, a day after pulling Matz too late, was ready to call it a night for the Dark Knight and let Familia finalize the ninth. Harvey had other plans, coaxing his manager to finish what he started. Collins acquiesced to his pitcher's plea of "no way," but there was also no way the Royals would go down without a fight.
A Lorenzo Cain walk and Hosmer double quickly forced Collins to pull the plug. Familia generated three groundouts, but Hosmer aggressively bolted home on the second fielded by Lucas Duda. Trying to catch his fellow first baseman, Duda sailed the throw over Travis d'Arnaud's glove, erasing a 2-0 lead and all hope in Flushing.
Even if it wasn't the right move, it worked. (This is also the working title of Yost's biography.) Even Hosmer admitted to CNN's Rachel Nichols that he thought he messed up:
Kansas City crushed New York for a five-run 12th, commenced by an RBI single from Christian Colon in his first postseason at-bat. Because it's the Royals.
“I lived it,” Colon said, per McCullough. “You know what I’m saying? I went to bed almost every night, thinking about this moment. And being ready for my team and for my family and everybody."
On the losing side, Collins won't dream of similarly pleasant thoughts at night. Per SportsCenter's Twitter feed, the 66-year-old skipper took responsibility for the team's third late meltdown:
The beast of the game leaves little time to reflect on a successful season. Each squad must make pivotal free-agent decisions this offseason. For the Royals, Cueto and Zobrist—who hit four doubles during the World Series—served their role as midseason mercenaries. Big paydays now loom for each, and Kansas City isn't likely to sign those checks. Gordon, drafted by the team a decade ago, can opt to enter free agency.
"I want to be back, trust me. This is my home," Gordon declared after winning it all, per KCTV5.com's Chris Oberholtz. "I love Kansas City. I love the fans. I love everything about Kansas City. I couldn't see myself anywhere else. So, I hope it works out."
Meanwhile, Daniel Murphy went from homering in six straight games to amassing as many defensive miscues as hits. Courtesy of MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, the second baseman sounds like someone aware of his six-year tenure in New York coming to a conclusion:
I've enjoyed my time here. I really have enjoyed my time here. This organization's been great to me. I love the guys. I can't sing their praises enough. I thought the fans were awesome this Series. I thought they brought energy. And I most certainly have enjoyed it. I've been in this organization since 2006. It makes me feel old to say it. That's a long time. But I truly, truly enjoyed my time in this organization. I feel blessed to have been a Met this long.
Still, there will be plenty of time to play armchair general manager and plan for 2016 and beyond. While squandering late leads stings now, the Mets defied all expectations by winning the National League East instead of the Washington Nationals. After halting a nine-year playoff drought, they'll return next year with Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, d'Arnaud and Michael Conforto, painting a bright future.
A year after climbing as high as possible without reaping the rewards, the Royals erased the sour taste of a Game 7 World Series defeat. Every time they looked done, tracing all the way back to losing James Shields last winter, they bounced back.
Now they're world champions.
“Never give up,” Cain said, per McCullough. “Never give up. Came through again. We’re the comeback kids, if you want to call us.”
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