The 1985 Royals (and the 1987 Twins) are an example of why, when you've got a chance to go to the playoffs, you've got to go for it. The Royals won 91 games in a lousy division, had a Pyth% of 86-76, and basically took having arguably the best hitter and pitcher in the league (Brett and Saberhagen), plus Leibrandt and Quisenberry, to a championship. They were down 3-1 to Toronto in the ALCS, and down 3-1 to the Cardinals (and, lets face it, one of the most famous wrong ump calls of our lifetimes), but come back to win.

We're closing in on 30 years since that title, and it is still the seminal moment in Kansas City sports history since Bart Starr. My in-laws live in KC, so every time I go out there, the 1985 championship comes up in some form. Nobody talks about 1976-1978, when the Royals lost in the ALCS. Nobody talks about 1980, when they lost to the Phillies. Only 1985. How much more empty would hundreds of thousands of sports fans' lives in western Missouri be if Jorge Orta is called out at first?

It is really hard to win a championship - you have to be good, and you have to be lucky. When you get a chance to "make the tournament", you've got to go for it...

The Braves notwithstanding, you're still going to win the tournament more often the more often you make it there in the first place. Since it's virtually impossible to get a better than 1-in-8 (or how ever many teams) chance of winning it, hurting your chances to make it in future years is always the wrong decision.

We're closing in on 30 years since that title, and it is still the seminal moment in Kansas City sports history since Bart Starr.

Bart Starr? I would think winning Super Bowl IV would resonate more than getting crushed in Super Bowl I.

I would think winning Super Bowl IV would resonate more than getting crushed in Super Bowl I.

Meh ... who hasn't beaten the Vikings in a super bowl?

Its much like in the Toronto area how you hear about 1967 over and over and over again - the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup. I'm in my 40's and it was before I was born. For Jay fans we are starting to get sick of 92/93 as I remember it clearly but it was 19 years ago now and thus people who can vote were not born when it happened.

This is part of the price of a 30 team MLB - the more teams, the longer the breaks between World Series appearances and wins for each club.

a) Sorry, I meant Len Dawson. I was Typing While Tired.
b) #2: I definitely don't mean trading Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen so that you can pick up a 37-year-old reliever for 22 innings on the way to winning a crappy division with 88 wins. That's always a bad decision. I don't think the Royals should trade a guy like Wil Myers for anybody short of Felix Hernandez or something.

But if you are 2012 Orioles, don't you eat some money if it means making a deadline deal? I mean, here's a team radically overachieving, based both on past performance and their RS versus RA ratio. This was not a roster that would typically win 93 games in a season....but they did, because everything was breaking right. The city of Baltimore, I presume, is starving for baseball success.

So the Orioles are givign a combined 38 starts to Hunter and Arieta - they really could've used a dependable, league-average pitcher who could get the game every fifth day to their excellent bullpen. Is there somebody who wants to unload $5 million for little-to-no-talent in return? There always is at the deadline. Take a chance.

Meh ... who hasn't beaten the Vikings in a super bowl?

Your words are hurtful. Fun Vikings fact, they have lost five straight (ones they were in) NFC championship games. Sigh.

Meh ... who hasn't beaten the Vikings in a super bowl?

The Bills?

bitter

there was a vikings blog branded 'pacifist viking'. reading his entries were fascinating as the writer was obviously angst-ridden by his team's failures