A’s nemesis is cocky top dog
The Royals hail from the heartland and burst upon the scene last season as baseball’s most charming, inspiring story.
[...] Kansas City, sporting the American League’s best record, has seven players (seven!) leading the All-Star voting.
[...] they played that memorable wild-card game in September, a dramatic Royals victory.
[...] came the ugliness in April, started when Brett Lawrie slid hard and very late into second base and took out shortstop Alcides Escobar on a potential double play.
The Royals were justifiably angry, and you could understand Yordano Ventura hitting Lawrie in the elbow with a pitch the next day.
[...] the retribution went too far in the final game of the series, when Kelvin Herrera threw a 100-mph fastball behind Lawrie and pointed to his own head as he departed, as if to suggest the next one would target Lawrie’s noggin.
[...] it was no surprise when Friday night’s strong crowd of 27,365 booed with more verve than usual when Kansas City’s lineup was introduced — and again when Escobar stepped to the plate to start the game.
The fans saved their loudest boos for the eighth inning, when Herrera jogged to the mound in relief of Edison Volquez.
Two-plus hours earlier, my curiosity prompted a brief visit to the right-field bleachers, home to the most loyal and creative A’s fans.
O’Connor, wearing an “I Believe in Stephen Vogt” T-shirt, clearly harbors enmity toward the Royals.
The Royals don’t deserve to send seven starters to the All-Star Game, but A’s fans would kill for the postseason run Kansas City enjoyed last fall.
A large contingent of Royals fans, dressed in blue, showing up for road games (just like Yankees and Red Sox fans).