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We conclude the Royals nominations for the SB Nation MLB Awards by choosing TEAM OF THE YEAR. By rule, we can't nominate our own team, the "American League Champion Kansas City Royals."
Previous nominees:
Funniest Royals moment: Nori Aoki getting hit in the groin on a flyball
Most regrettable Royals moment: Not sending Alex Gordon in Game 7 of the World Series
Best defensive Royals play: Mike Moustakas diving above the dugout suites for a foul ball in the ALCS
The most important Royals hit: Salvador Perez's game-winning hit in the Wild Card game
The best Royals pitching performance: Yordano Ventura in Game 6 of the World Series
Its a silly rule. So here are your lesser nominees.
They did beat is in the World Series after all. Officially, at least. But when I close my eyes, in MY mind, Salvador Perez hits a walk-off home run off Madison Bumgarner. Also, I'm a viking.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
They did have the best regular season record, which a lot of stat-guys will tell you is more meaningful than these random outcomes in October. They won 52 games at home, most in baseball, although they dropped their only two post-season home games to the Royals en route to getting swept. So if you don't know what grit is and care about nerd numbers, vote for the Angels, they won 98 games and were one of the the best regular season teams.
They won our division, finishing one game ahead of us with 90 wins and kind of spanked us all season, winning 13 of 19 games against the Royals. Of course, they had a pythag of just 86-76, and were just 77-66 against teams not named the "Royals", and were easily swept in the ALDS against Baltimore.
They had the best record in baseball for much of the summer, and had a pythag of 99-63 and the best run-differential in baseball. They had an epic collapse in the second half despite huge mid-season acquisitions of Jeff Samardzija and Jon Lester. They were also up 7-3 in the Wild Card game before another epic collapse against the Royals, perfectly epitomizing their season. There is probably an alternate universe where the Royals don't come back against the A's and Oakland goes on to win it all. I am glad I do not live in this universe.
The Omaha Stormchasers
Look, they won their third-consecutive Pacific Coast League title, and second-consecutive AAA National Championship this year. When you have a well-oiled machine run by Carlos Peguero, Francisco Pena, Matt Fields, and Paulo Orlando, you will not be denied. Could they have won a MLB Championship? We'll never know. All I know, is that Omaha fans are chanting "WE WANT BAMA."
Who was the TEAM OF THE YEAR?