(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
The rivalry isn’t quite what it used to be. Gone are the unwavering intensity, fierce competition, and occasional fisticuffs of the mid and late ’70s meetings between the KC Royals and New York Yankees. The Yanks were Kansas City’s chief antagonists, cruelly beating them in three straight American League Championship Series (1976-78) to ruin the Royals’ attempts to reach their first World Series.
No, the luster of the clubs’ storied rivalry isn’t the same. They haven’t met in postseason play since the Royals finally broke through and swept New York in the 1980 ALCS to earn their first Series berth.