At 4:05 p.m. on a mild autumn afternoon in 2013, in the 10th inning of the KC Royals’ final home game of the season, in a moment that made the end of Dayton Moore’s long, slow “process” feel near, the re-transformation of the team became more than just a dream. You could almost reach out and touch it, a thing you could hold near through baseball’s coming winter hiatus. With one magical swing of his bat, a bit player gave KC fans more than hope. He gave them promise and a preview of things to come.
The Royals, once a terrifically successful franchise with division titles, American League pennants and a World Series title, had fallen on such hard times that they’d enjoyed only one winning season since 2003, and only six since they won the ’85 Series.