Royal "gut punch" losses

by self loather on Feb 6, 2008 7:25 PM EST Comment 34 comments

Hello...tap tap...is this thing on?

Hey all, first time long time, yada yada. Since this is my first post on this site, a little background: I am almost unquestionably the only Royal fan in Westchester County, NY (NYRoyal, maybe?), and have been since September 2, 1979, when my dad took me to my first game at Yankee Stadium. The first thing I saw live was Brett depositing a Ken Clay pitch into the 3rd deck in right field, and what can I say, I was an impressionable youth. As for the handle...well, no Royal fan needs an explanation on that one.

Anyway, the Pats loss in the Super Bowl got me thinking about all-time "gut punch" losses, specifically those involving the Royals. And it occurred to me, the Royals probably haven't had one in about 15 years.

By "gut punch," I mean a loss where there was a lot at stake, usually the playoffs, or a sudden and horrific reversal of fortune, or when expectations were high and the team fell dramatically short, or when some incredibly flukey series of events lifted almost certain victory from their grasp. Or some combination of all of those. Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, for example, as Bill Simmons would say, is the definitive gut punch game.

So what about the Royals? The last one I can remember was a game in Chicago in 1993, when the Royals were making a pretty good run at the West title. They were only a few games out of first, and were looking good. I vaguely remember them taking a lead into the ninth in a critical series in August, when Frank Thomas hit a homer off Jeff Montgomery that probably still hasn't landed. The Royals subsequently collapsed, and finished a distant 3rd, 10 games out. Does anyone else remember this? Am I remembering it right?

Does the 9-run comeback by the Indians in '06 count as a gut punch loss? Can it, when a team is in the middle of a 100-loss season? Some of the games in the 19-game losing streak from '05 were pretty brutal, though I'd describe those as more of a steady stream of nausea than gut punches.

If you guys have any thoughts or other candidates, I'd be interested in hearing them.

And BTW, this is a great site, I love the features. I have a feeling I know who will be the top Royal of all-time, but I'm holding out hope for Chico Lind.

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gotta be a few from 2003...

hmm... lemme think

by Will McDonald on Feb 6, 2008 7:35 PM EST reply actions

August 13, 1993

I find any loss to the White Sox gut wrenching, but you're right that this was a particularly ugly one.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA199308130.shtml

By the way, I'm in Manhattan, not Westchester. Do you live close to Bill and Hillary?

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 6, 2008 7:37 PM EST reply actions

Wow.

Baseball-reference is a great site, shoulda known I'd find it there. I was close, the Thomas HR was in the 8th, not the 9th, like I remembered.

I'm in Port Chester, not that close to the Clintons, fortunately...

As for 2003...LOL, I almost forgot that season existed. Still, I don't remember any one especially brutal loss, just the sinking feeling that they were collapsing, and there was nothing to be done.

by self loather on Feb 6, 2008 8:11 PM EST up reply actions

thats a killer loss

had RR existed then, there would have been a 100 comment post game thread/diary

god, frank thomas was a beast back in the day

Hillman, you're on notice.

by FireBell on Feb 6, 2008 8:21 PM EST up reply actions

One out away from being 1.5 games out. Brutal.

Meanwhile, on that site, you can click on the orange number next to the batter, to see the pitch sequence (the HR was on a 1-0 pitch). Very cool.

by self loather on Feb 6, 2008 8:33 PM EST up reply actions

Wow

I remember listening to that game on the radio as I was driving out of Chicago to Lawrence to start my sophomore year at KU. Yuck, that game stunk.

by Berroa is the devil on Feb 7, 2008 5:48 PM EST up reply actions

Wow

I remember exactly where I was watching that game - over at my friend Ryan's house. That was crushing. I hate you Frank Thomas!

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 8, 2008 12:07 PM EST up reply actions

well, nothing was at stake

but blowing a 10-1 first inning lead wasn't very fun

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=260823107

Hillman, you're on notice.

by FireBell on Feb 6, 2008 7:40 PM EST reply actions

My Royals gut punch

This isn't about a gut punch game, per se. I was a huge Jose Rosado fan. He was my favorite Royals player in the late 90's. 2000 was the last year I lived in Kansas and on April 30, I drove from Manhattan to KC to watch the Royals play the Mariners. Rosado had been pitching with pain throughout the month and the manager had him skip his prior start. So April 30th was to be his triumphant return. He pitched pretty well, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing only two runs and getting the win. The story of the night and the next day in the KC sports media was that Rosado was back, looking good and feeling good.

Of course, he didn't feel good. The outing only exacerbated his injury and he went on the DL shortly thereafter. He never pitched in a major league game again. Him never making it back really felt like a punch in the gut to me. Jose was a truly impressive talent with decent stuff and excellent control. I will never forget his dominant 1999 season. He has been missed.

I probably disagree with you.

by NYRoyal on Feb 6, 2008 8:29 PM EST reply actions

dude should sue the royals for negligence

no way they handled that well

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Feb 6, 2008 11:31 PM EST up reply actions

from 2003

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA200308010.shtml

9-6 loss to the Devil Rays on August 1st.

The loss put the Royals in a first place tie with the White Sox. Two weeks before (less in baseball time actually, since there had been the ASB) the Royals led by 7.5 games. This was their 4th straight loss. The White Sox had won 5 straight.

The Royals led 6-5 in the 7th inning, when newly acquired Graehme Lloyd replaced Kris Wilson, who'd pitched 4 innings in relief after Lima time was blasted.

Lloyd struck out the first batter he faced then allowed a ground rule double to Huff, a double to Baldelli (6-6 tie game) and a single to Travis Lee (7-6 Rays). Grimsley would get the next batter to ground out, but after a WP Lee was at third with two outs. Grimmy then allowed another single (8-6) to Hall, then a final single to Lugo (9-6).

The Royals would manage only one baserunner over the last three innings, a walk by Tucker in the 8th and went down meekly.

___

They'd actually move back into first the next day, but it was sad to see the big lead gone so quickly.

by Will McDonald on Feb 6, 2008 8:30 PM EST reply actions

I'd bet...

...you could find some others from August 2003, but I think that one pretty much sums up the decline. Grimsley to relieve Lloyd to relieve Kirs Wilson to relieve Lima.

Yep. That's about as good a summary for what went wrong as I can think of.

by self loather on Feb 6, 2008 10:29 PM EST up reply actions

another horrible 2003 loss

Sept 2, game 136

the royals are in third place now, but only 2 games out, three days ago, they were tied for first, but have now lost 3 straight

basically, its getting desperate

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX200309020.shtml

Royals are tailing Texas 8-3 entering the 9th (they'd led 3-0 early, btw

here's the inning:

-Harvey: HBP
-D. Brown: single
-Jarrod Patterson reaches on error (pena has ph the last two guys)
-with the bases loaded, Berroa hits a SF (8-4)

Randa doubles (8-5) patterson to 3rd
Sweeney singles to make it 8-7

So its 8-7, Sweeney standing on first, with one out. Believe time, right? wrong.

Pena PRs for Sweeney, sending in Desi Relaford, more remarkably, he PHs for Beltran who'd gone 1-4 with a triple.

Cordero is pitching for the Rangers.

I don't know why Pena did this. All I can think of was an injury concern or lefty right matchup, I guess.

So anyway, Aaron Guiel steps to the plate with the game on the line. During his AB Relaford steals 2nd, so now the Royals have two cracks to drive in the tying run and save the season.

Guiel Strikes OUt Swinging.

So now its up to Raul...

He also strikes out swinging.
Rangers win 8-7, Royals stay in 3rd, and 2 games back.

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on Feb 6, 2008 11:52 PM EST up reply actions

Beltran played the next day

so he wasn't hurt, although that may have been a concern

its hard to imagine that Pena could have wanted Guiel up there for any other reason though

by Will McDonald on Feb 7, 2008 12:47 AM EST up reply actions

Nothing comes to mind

Losing sucks, but the R's have lost so much in my lifetime that I've become somewhat numb to it. Pretty cynical of me, but c'est la Royale vie.

I'm sure I really would have gotten into the 2003 season, but I was studying abroad in Ireland for the entire summer, and by the time I got back their chances had dwindled.

"I'm tired of all these stupid a$$ questions every day. Why the f**k would I hit Brett for Miller?" The rest is history.

by DC Royal on Feb 6, 2008 10:33 PM EST reply actions

My thoughts

Believe it or not, loyal2smom and I, along with a fellow Kaufmann stadium peanut vendor and his wife, were in Milwaukee watching a game that night Thomas put a stake in our pennant drive. (We heard the game on a transistor radio as it happened).

We were on a short weekend vacation trip, and wanted to take in a game in old County Stadium, and then go to Chicago to site see (and take in the Royals-ChiSox the next day) before coming home. Needless to say, the series lost most of it's excitement after that devastating blow.

by loyal2s dad on Feb 7, 2008 11:07 AM EST reply actions

My gut wrenchers

To me, a game can't really count unless it cripples your post season hopes, or actually takes place in the post season, so I'm going to have to go back to three games that all were very painful. Not coincidentally, all occured against the damn Yankees. Here they are, in chronological order:

Game 5 of 1976 playoffs. Chambliss walk off HR ends the series. Royals were virgin playoff team, and had just gotten off the mat the inning before with an awesome game tying 3 run HR by Brett. McRae had to come into the game for Al Cowens, and the HR was barely over his glove. I think Cowens would have had a 70 or 80 % chance of catching it.
Game 5 of the 1977 playoffs. Royals 3 outs away from first WS, at home, and blew a lead in the top of the 9th. Cue the shot of Fred Patek hanging his head despondently in the dugout.
Game 3 of the 1978 playoffs. Series was tied at 1-1, and although the Yankees were cleary the better team that year, George Brett (him again) was performing like maybe he could singlehandely lead the Royals to an upset. Brett was forced to bat leadoff, because the team didn't have anybody else capable of filling that role. He homers the first three times up against Catfish Hunter, and the Royals take a 4-3 lead into the late innings. Thurman Munson delivers a 2 run HR of Doug Bird, Yankees win 5-4 and end the series the next day. Another great performance by Brett is overshadowed by the Yankees.

I think this is why the 1980 playoff sweep, and the Brett HR off Gossage, still goes down as the greatest moment in Royals history to me.

by loyal2s dad on Feb 7, 2008 11:16 AM EST reply actions

Those are certainly the worst...

...but I was thinking in more recent times. The point being that you usually have to be in playoff contention for a loss to be so heart-breaking.

The 1976 game was a little before my time, but they show the replay all the time at Yankee Stadium. Every time, when they show Brett giving Cowens(?) the high-five at the plate after homering, that huge wad of tobacco in his cheek, I think "hey, maybe they win this time!" Alas.

Also, didn't Brett hit two to the warning track in the 1978 game after the three homers, including one down by a run in the 9th? I hate that it was overshadowed too, but in fairness, Munson was a pretty beloved guy, and his death the next season cemented that homer as his lasting legacy.

by self loather on Feb 7, 2008 12:20 PM EST up reply actions

Brett

I remember him hitting the 4th time up to perhaps the edge of the warning track, or maybe a few feet short of that.

by loyal2s dad on Feb 7, 2008 3:40 PM EST up reply actions

Nothing I Can

Add to that. Well, maybe Quiz's blown save in the '80 Series. Was it Schmidt who doubled into the RC gap?

I'm not getting older....oh, wait, yes I am....and slower.... and weaker. God, this is great!

by philofthenorth on Feb 7, 2008 1:30 PM EST up reply actions

Oddly,

I was far less upset by the whole Phillies series loss than I was by that 77 debacle to the Yankees.

The Royals caught the "glad to be here" syndrome a bit against the Phillies, probably because it took them four tries to finally vanquish the Yankees.

FWIW, I thought the turning point in the Phillies WS was game one, when we blew a huge lead, symbolized by Darrell Porter tip-toeing into an out at the plate. If I remember correctly, we had Leo on the mound against somebody pretty shitty for Philly, due to their exhaustive 16 inning game against HTN in the playoffs. (I want to say it was Bynum? Anyway, somebody starting with a B)

by loyal2s dad on Feb 7, 2008 6:07 PM EST up reply actions

Shameless plug

Royals Retro: A Look Back at 1980

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 8, 2008 2:21 PM EST up reply actions

can i submit the strike in 1994

The Royals were 64-51 (I don't believe they've been better than this sense)

Through Augist 5th they'd won 14 straight, to get to 63-47, one game out of first

they then went 1-4 the next/last five games of that season, but were still only four games out

Hillman, you're on notice.

by FireBell on Feb 7, 2008 1:39 PM EST reply actions

Now That You Mention It

Yeah, I remember that season. I was so disgusted with the way that season ended, I had almost forgotten the Royals' last really good season before the decade+ of suckitude. I even turned away (very briefly) from baseball as a result of this mutant season. I'm much better now.

I'm not getting older....oh, wait, yes I am....and slower.... and weaker. God, this is great!

by philofthenorth on Feb 8, 2008 12:36 AM EST up reply actions

The game that ended the streak

Was kind of a gut puncher. It was a nationally televised game and the game was moved from Seattle to Kansas City because tiles at the Kingdome had fallen off. The Royals had like 25,000 walkups that day and it was a really exciting atmosphere.

Well the Mariners started some guy named Tim Davis or something like that, no one had ever heard of him. The Royals ended up getting blown out on national TV.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 8, 2008 12:15 PM EST up reply actions

Poor, poor Gil

I had a lot of these moments last year when poor ol' Gil was pitching great, but couldn't seem to ever get the "W". Usually, it was for lack of run support, but this game seemed like a great chance for him to break the unlucky streak, and then the bullpen blew it.

Hoping your stars align better next year, Gil. You've been earning your salary just fine.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Feb 7, 2008 1:48 PM EST reply actions

The one that comes to mind from this past

season was this one, where the Royals were about to get back to .500 at 3-3 and Ducky pitched his butt off...

A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.

by NHZ on Feb 8, 2008 12:52 AM EST reply actions

April 27, 2003

The Royals, 17-4, took an 8-1 lead into the 7th inning, only to lose to the Blue Jays 10-9 in the bottom of the 9th. Albie "Nightmare Fuel" Lopez and Ryan Bukvich were the main culprits, but Mike MacDougal got tagged with the blown save and the loss. The Royals lost three straight afterward. I remember this representing the end of the Royals' outrageously dominant start, as well as the return to reality for phenom rookie MacDougal.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200304270.shtml

by andrewmiller on Feb 8, 2008 9:37 AM EST reply actions

April 11, 2006

I select this one partly because it was a season tone-setter and mostly because it seemed a billion times worse coming against the Yankees. The Royals (then 2-3) lead 7-4 going into the bottom of the 8th at Yankees Stadium, having weathered a 2.2 inning, 5 walk, 4 run effort from pitching debacle Joe Mays. One dose of Sisco and Burgos later, the Royals were down 9-7, which became the final score. Jeter hit the decisive home run, adding the ultimate insult.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200604110.shtml

by andrewmiller on Feb 8, 2008 9:46 AM EST reply actions

I can't believe I forgot that one

My sister-in-law, a huge Yankee fan, went to the game with her parents and siblings (including my wife) but not including me - I was so rooting for the Royals to kick sand in her eye for that. And it looked so good, until that disastrous eighth inning.

Yeah, that's a gut-punch. Burgos (the confidence Buddy Bell had in him is the biggest beef I had against him as a manager, and getting anything at all in return for him, never mind Brian Bannister, is the biggest credit to Dayton Moore) was quite effective at delivering those. He was also ultimately the final lead-blower in that game against the Indians that we had led 10-1 after the first inning (though to be fair, none of our relievers distinguished themselves in that one. But as soon as I heard Burgos was in, I knew the game was lost).

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Feb 8, 2008 2:01 PM EST up reply actions

Not much was at stake

But that Todd Wellemeyer grand slam game against Baltimore last season was a gut puncher. It let me know that the 2007 version was not going to be much better than the 2006 version.

They actually were a much better team, but for about a month there I didn't believe.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Feb 8, 2008 12:13 PM EST reply actions

my gut punches?

Soria was becoming the darling of mlb talk sites. He was getting a lot of notice and the one thing opposing broadcasters mentioned was how he had not given up a homer all season...then brandon inge tattoo'ed one off him to win the game.
Riske. I-Rod. 2 run shot. We lost after a hard fought game.
Gordon's very first ML AB, vs. Schilling. Bases loaded. Fought and fought, and Schilling got him to K to end the inning. Kauffman was rocking and you could almost FEEL the disappointment all the way here to California.

This offseason? I'd say the biggest gut-punchers were missing out on all the FA's we wanted.

by THEbobhamelin on Feb 11, 2008 4:04 PM EST reply actions

I vote for the 14-inning game in STL last year

The Royals led entering the bottom of the ninth and lost on a walkoff home run to (of all people) Ryan Ludwick leading off the bottom of the 14th. Cardinal fans were at their rudest following that game, which meant the Evil Empire won two of the three games in their ugly new ballpark.

by jbrocato on Feb 12, 2008 5:50 PM EST reply actions

This game gets my vote too!

Most people agree that managers don't win or lose many games, but this was one of several the Royals lost because of Buddy Bell. The timing and frequency of his pitching changes that night were horrible. He used every pitcher in the bullpen and ended having to bring in JDLR from the starting rotation. Seems like JDLR only threw one pitch and that equaled the painful homer to end the game. Man, I'm glad Buddy's gone.

by Shooter on Feb 12, 2008 8:05 PM EST up reply actions