Brigit McDannell ’18
Sports Editor
America’s favorite pastime – baseball – began its major league champion series on Oct. 27 where the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals played a total of five games. The two teams competed for the coveted title of the 2015 World Series winner, marking the 111th edition in National Baseball League history.
The New York Mets made their fifth appearance in the World Series and their first comeback return since 2010 where they beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0 in the National League Championship Series. The Mets have made the World Series five times, winning in 1969 against the Baltimore Orioles and in 1986 against the Boston Red Sox and losing in 1973 against Oakland Athletics and in 2000 against their cross-town rival, the New York Yankees.
Team manager for the Mets, Terry Collins, told New York Times sports columnist Tim Rohan that he has positive feelings about the championship games, “If you show panic now, it could spread in the clubhouse,” Collins said, “and I’m not going to do that. I like our lineup. I like what they’ve done all year long.”
The Kansas City Royals’ career in World Series history is less prolific compared to the Mets but the Midwestern team contended well in the past. This is the Royals’ second consecutive appearance in the World Series under manager Ned Yost. They won in 1985 against the St. Louis and lost in 1980 against the Philadelphia Phillies and in 2014 against the San Francisco Giants.
Game one began Oct. 27, when the first pitch was thrown by the Mets’ own Mat Harvey. Kansas’s Alcides Escobar then hit an inside-the-park homerun, the first in a World Series game since Mule Haasin in 1923, starting off the game in an intense fashion. Daniel Murphy recorded the Mets’ first hit in the fourth inning and later scored their first run on a hit by Trais d’Arnund. In the eighth inning, Jaun Largas scored the go-ahead run and gave the Mets a 4-3 lead, with the final score resulting in a tie. The game tied the record for one of the longest game by innings in World Series history, ending after five hours.
In game two, Jacob deGrom started for the Mets, and Johnny Ceuto started for the Royals. The Mets scored the first run of the game with Lucas Duda’s single. The Royals scored four runs by Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas in the fifth inning. The Royals scored three more runs in the eighth inning. Cueto pitched a complete game and the Royals defeated the Mets and took a two games to zero lead in the series.
At Citi Field, game three started with Yordano Ventura from the Royals and Noah Syndergaard of the Mets. Mike Piazza threw the ceremonial first pitch. Ben Zobrist scored the Royals’ first run in the first inning on a force play. The Royals made two major mistakes in the game, the first during in the fourth inning when pitcher Yordano Ventura forgot to cover the base on a ground ball, and the second in the sixth inning, when Royals pitcher Frank Morales triple-clutched a ground ball. All runners were allowed to be safe leading to a two-run single by David Wright. In the fifth inning, Royals player Raul Adalberto Mondesi made his Major League Baseball career debut, becoming the first player to ever make their MLB debut in the World Series.
The starting pitchers for Game 4 were the Royals’ Chris Young and Steven Matz of the Mets. In the sixth inning, Ben Zobrist made his eighth double of the postseason. After a field error made by Daniel Murphy, the Royals took the lead in the eighth inning.
The final game, played Nov. 1, marked Royals history as they won the series against the Mets for the first time since 1985. The Royals defeated the Mets with a final score of 7-2.
