Game 8 Thread: Angels vs. Royals

One of the things that sounds really weird in hindsight but didn’t seem all that weird at the time because of pandemic-warped 2020-ness: the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels didn’t play each other once last year. In fact, the Royals haven’t played anybody not in the American League Central or National League Central since 2019. So, it’ll be a lot of re-acquainting ourselves with teams.

I must say, I’m a fan of the Los Angeles Angels, as far as a Royals fan can be a fan of another American League team. And it’s for a similar reason that I enjoyed it when the Los Angeles Dodgers finally won their World Series last year: I love seeing players who haven’t won a ring finally win a ring. Last year, we all got to see Clayton Kershaw raise the World Series trophy. But Mike Trout, best player in baseball, hasn’t even been beyond the ALDS—and has the juggernaut that was the 2014 Royals postseason squad to blame.

Additionally, the Angels have Shohei Ohtani, who is a true wonder. It would be great to see him do well! But not at the expense of the Royals. Not today.

Angels lineup

Royals lineup