This is the Rivalry I Miss

I am a firm believer, or at least have the perception, that sports were were better when we were younger. Maybe it’s because we had less responsibilities. Maybe it’s because the world was less chaotic. I don’t think I am the only one that feels this way. How many times growing up did we hear our parents say things were better when they were kids? That being said, I always try to conceptualize that instead of saying sports were better when I was younger, I like to say they have evolved. However, I still miss certain things about my baseball childhood.

This brings me to the rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals, who play each other four times in Kansas City this week.

Growing up, I didn’t look at the Boston Red Sox as the Yanks’ biggest rivals. The Yankees and Royals to me was much more intense. New York and Kansas City played each other in the American League Champions Series four out of five years. Though I was too young to actually remember the first three, I knew that whenever they played one another, it was a big deal. Some of their regular season games were on national television. The 1976-1978 ALCS were loaded with memorable highlights such as Chris Chambliss’s series clinching home run at Yankee Stadium in ’76 and the brawl in Kansas City one year later. One of my earliest memories was the 1980 ALCS when the Royals finally slayed the Yankee dragon and advanced to the World Series. I distinctly remember going to bed with the Yankees winning game three only to wake up and find out George Brett smacked a three run homer to give KC the series. To add more gas to the fire, Dick Howser was the Yankee manager in 1980. He was fired by George Steinbrenner after that season and became the Royals’ manager the following season. Howser got the Royals over the hump once and for all in 1985, directing the team to its first World Championship. Of course, who can forget the most famous moment of all in this epic rivalry? That would be Brett’s Pine Tar home run in 1983, that was first disallowed and then allowed less than a month later.

For one of the rare instances over the last 30 years, both teams are playoff contenders at the same time. One big difference between all of those epic clashes years ago and today is the size of the payrolls. In its heyday, there was no talk of big market-small market and luxury taxes. It was just two well-run organizations vying for American League supremacy. I’d love nothing more than to see the Yankees and Royals meet once again this Fall for the right to go to the World Series.

Author: Tom Lynch

Family is everything to me. Baseball is a close second. What better way to combine my two favorite passions than to write about them! My three children each have a different baseball team, hence the title, "Three Unassisted". I write about not only my thoughts but also the musings of Ryan (Yankees), Caitlyn (Phillies) and Matthew (Mets). I may have grown up a Yankees fan but since family is greater than ball, I also root for the Phillies and Mets. I love talking about my kids. I love talking about baseball. That lethal combination will keep you coming back for more. Happy reading! View all posts by Tom Lynch