The Yankees’ One-Time Rivals

When a team hasn’t been to the playoffs in 29 years, you kind of forget about them. This is especially true when the newer, younger Yankees fan base watched our boys in the Bronx rise to new heights while the Kansas City Royals endured three decades of misery. Seeing the Royals in the playoffs reminds me of a time when the American League came down to two teams: the Royals and the Yankees.

Growing up engulfed in Yankee tradition, I was taught to hate George Brett… and I did. He was the cry baby who liked pine tar and infamously charged the field. The last roommate I had was a die hard Royals fan, and the picture of Brett storming out of the dugout on that July 24, 1983 day hung in my living room for three years. The Yankees squared off against the Royals four times for the AL Pennant from 1976 to 1980. You can make the argument that during the time of The Bronx Zoo, the Royals were more detested than the Red Sox.

Mar 22, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Former Kansas City Royals player George Brett looks on against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium. The Royals won 8-4. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

George Brett was also one of the greatest third baseman to ever play the game and he was the face of a Royals team full of scrappy speedsters that loved to win. Brett recently recalled a run in he had with George Steinbrenner years after he retired. Brett told the New York Post:

“I said ‘What’s wrong? He (Steinbrenner) says ‘You beat us too many times.’ I said ‘George, let’s count them up. You won in ’76, ’77, ’78. We won in ’80. That’s one out of four. He said that’s one [expletive] too many.”

Those Royals would stay relevant and finally win a World Series in 1985. Like I said, they were a scrappy team. They had solid pitching and players like Willie Wilson and Frank White who got on base and caused nightmares for opposing pitchers. They never lived and died by the long ball, but were a run producing factory. Brett himself was never much of a power hitter, but he could hit like no one else. He sees a lot of similarities in this Royals team.

More from Yankees News

• Michael Kay’s Anthony Volpe story will get Yankees fans amped for Opening Day
• No, Yankees should not acquire Trevor Bauer for 2023
• Yankees’ Marwin González replaces Red Sox LF in Japan in logical next step
• Blue Jays overpaying for Yankees trade target shows they’re trying too hard
• Aaron Judge’s influence on Carlos Rodón shows he’s more powerful than Yankees

“I think what Dayton’s done is make us a very athletic team with good speed up the middle,” Brett, who remains with the Royals as vice president for baseball operations, told the Post. “We had Willie Wilson, U.L. Washington. Frank White could steal bases. That’s the style of baseball we played. We weren’t home-run hitting teams. We play in the biggest ballpark in the American League. Maybe if we played in Baltimore or some of those bandboxes, we might not be last [in homers].”

These Royals have spunk, much like Brett did on that pine tar day, and it is evident after their one-game Wild Card victory over the Oakland As Tuesday night. They were down four runs in the eighth and fought back to tie it in the ninth. They would go down one more time in the 12th yet rise to victory in the bottom half of the inning with a walk-off single from Salvador Perez. The new Royals are here, and with all of the youth they have coming together, they may be here to stay.

The Yankees will be looking to vastly improve in 2015. Missing the playoffs next year would be unacceptable and would most likely lead to a complete overhaul of the system. If the Yankees plan on making a deep run in October, they would most likely have to go through the Royals at some point. Maybe that will ignite the sparks of a rivalry renewed.