Chances are the Kansas City Royals weren't going to repeat as MLB champions no matter what.
Don't get mad, Royals fans—that's just clear-eyed history.
Since 1979, baseball has seen two teams win more than one World Series in a row. The Toronto Blue Jays did it in 1992 and 1993, and the New York Yankees won a trio of titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Other than that, for the past 27 years, it's been nothing but one-and-done. So the odds were stacked against Kansas City from the start.