I'm a Royals fan. No......really. A huge Royals fan. Seriously. I know, I know. The Royals are losers. The Royals have lost more games in the past 18 seasons than any other team in baseball, and found new and creative ways to lose games, lose players, lose seasons, lose fans, and lose respectability. Losers. But they've never lost me. And they never will. (FYI......shocking as it may seem, I'm not alone.)
from the movie, Fever Pitch, as Ben reveals his sad love of the Red Sox
"Ben: I like being part of something that's bigger than me, than I. It's good for your soul to invest in something you can't control.
Lindsey Meeks: You're a romantic. You have a lyrical soul. You can love under the best and worst conditions."
I have this friend who is a lifelong Yankees fan. (And we're friends?) His team has the richest history, most resources, the biggest fan base, and the largest TV revenue stream, allowing them to spend more, obtain the best players, cover development and free agent mistakes, and above all.....to win, win often, and win big. The Royals have none of the above. I've absolutely no idea why my friend is a Yankees fan, as he grew up in Joplin, Missouri. He's known losses, and heartache, just not in the same way that I have. You could equate it to the fact that I know pain, because I've stubbed my toe on many occasions. But I don't know pain in the same way that my baby sister does, as she's birthed 5 boys, the most recent of which was all natural, and within earshot of her older brother. (But that's a whole other blog post.) I think of baseball fandom as a marriage. "For better or worse" is all well and good, so long as it's all better, and no worse. But what about when it's all worse, and no better. That is what it is to love truly. That is what it is to love a loser. That's what it is to love the Royals.
So why would anybody actually do it, love a loser? I suppose one reason my friend, Steven, roots for the Yankees is simply.......'cause they win. You can count on them to spend many times what most teams can afford, and there is a correllation between spending and winning. (Note: spending doesn't mean you'll win. Bad decisions can come with huge price tags. But not spending is a guarantee of losing. Not spending for 25 years is a guarantee of losing for a long, long time.) I think it must be easy to root for the Yankees, knowing that most of the time your team will be in the hunt for a championship. But why root for the Royals, or the Pirates, or the Mariners, or the Padres, or any of the teams who've found new and heartbreaking ways to flounder in their own filth?
For me, it's because I grew up with the Royals. I grew up about an hour from Kansas City, watching, at the time, one of the great teams in baseball. I grew up watching Frank White make spectacular play after spectacular play, leaping into the air to snag a line drive, or turning the sweetest of double plays at second base, with the runner bearing down on him. (Frank remains my all time favorite Royal.) I grew up watching Willie Wilson fly around the bases for an inside the park home run, or leaping over the outfield wall to steal a home run. I grew up watching Dan Quisenberry submarine his way to subtlely, silently, being the best reliever in baseball, without bravado, fanfare, or arrogance. I grew up watching George Brett hit clutch homer, after clutch double, after late inning Gossage beating homer. George was the greatest Royal in team history. I loved him. But he was never my favorite Royal.
Maybe the fact that George Brett was never my favorite Royal is a part of this whole "why love the Royals" question. Sure, I enjoyed the winning. I loved the celebration after winning a Division, or a League, or a World Series. Of course I did. But I think the thing I loved most was just that they were "my" team. Those were "my" Royals. In those days, my favorite players were Frank White, Willie Wilson, and going even further back, Freddie Patek. Remember him? Probably not. But he was my favorite player when I was first old enough to have a favorite player. He was a 5 feet 4 (maybe 5) inch shortsop for my beloved Royals when I was 4, 5, 6, years old, when my love of baseball was first forming. He played hard, he played fast; but he was never great. He was, however, mine. I didn't cheer for him because he hit titanic homers. I cheered for him because he was my shortstop.
And I don't love the Royals for their rich, allbeit almost ancient, history of greatness. Nor do I love them because of their truly bright future. (see Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Alcides Escobar, Johnny Giavotella, Salvador Perez, Will Myers, Christian Colon, and the rest of baseballs greatest ever farm system.) Though I do think the highs will be that much sweeter after the depth and duration of the lows. No, I love them simply because they are my team. Those are not just the Kansas City Royals out there. They are MY Kansas City Royals. Always have been. Always will be. And I love them for that. Till death do us part. Perhaps, like Ben Wrightman in Fever Pitch, I'm a romantic, with a lyrical soul, who can "love under the best and worst conditions." And I can live with that. On the other hand, perhaps I'm just a fool. (But a fool who's true to his heart, and true to his team.) Maybe the Royals will be good next year. Maybe not. Either way, they'll still be MY Royals. Go get 'em, Royals. I'm right behind you.
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