The Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series over
the N.Y. Mets. They did it with solid starting pitching, a
dominant bullpen , and timely hitting, with a line up that
put the ball in play, got on base, and had a “keep the line moving”
attitude in which they didn’t try to do too much. They relied on
each other getting base hits, not necessarily … Home Runs.
Remind you of another team?
How about the ’96 Yankees ?
Here’s a stat..
Fewest Home Runs by a World Series Winner
Wild card Era (Since 1994)
Team HR Games
’15 Royals 2 5
’14 Giants 2 7
’06 Cards 2 5
’03 Marlins 2 6
’96 Yankees 2 6
(Neither KC nor NY had a 30 Home Run hitter during the regular season)
Considering that KC beat a team with a staff full of Aces like
Harvey, deGrom, & Syndergaard, it draws another parallel to
the ’96 Yankees that had to contend with the defending Champion
Atlanta Braves with 3 future Hall of Fame Starters …
Maddux, Glavine & Smoltz.
But pitching win Championships, so how did they do it ?
Well the biggest similarity between the two teams is the
dominant Bullpens. In fact when you look at the
’96 – ’00 Yankees, and the ’14 -’15 Royals, it is
staggering, just how dominant they were.
During the ’96, ’98-’00 postseasons, the
Yankee Bullpen was 13-1, 2.35 era, while the
Royals Bullpen was 15-1, 2.62 era the last two
postseasons.
Both teams were very comfortable playing close games
The Yankees were 12-0 in 1 run games
the Royals were 7-1.
In addition both teams had an uncanny ability to force
mistakes because of their confident and aggressive style.
Once a mistake was made by the opposition , these teams always made
them pay.. and pay dearly.
The Royals will look to defend their title next year and make it 2 in a row.
The Yankees have evolved into a team that lives (during the regular season)
and dies (in postseason / when they get there ) by the Home Run.
Which brings me to a question I have been asking for the last
15 years .. why has Brian Cashman changed the culture and
philosophy of a Yankee Dynasty team that won 4 World Series Championships
in 5 years ??
