A Kansas City-Oakland rivalry conjures up the thought of the Chiefs vs. the Raiders in the National Football League — but nothing in Major League Baseball. At least until this weekend.
The Raider’s withering performance on the football field in recent years hardly stirs up the glorious memories of the classic matchups against the Chiefs that dates back to the old days of the AFL in the 1960s — no matter how much the Chiefs attempt to manufacture a menacing growl.
But now we can thank the Royals and the Oakland Athletics for rekindling a city-to-city rivalry that was dormant until the classic wild card game last fall, followed up by a tumultuous three-game series in Kansas City that just concluded.
It’s not like it never existed in baseball before. When the Royals unseated the Athletics at the end of their Charlie Finley-owned dynasty in the mid-to-late 1970s, there were some heated games against the A’s, who were better known for fighting among themselves in their own clubhouse.
Royals Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Leonard recalled de-throning the A’s, “We finally won the division, which basically propelled us to know we can win. We went out and won in the following years.”
Other than the natural in-state rivalry during interleague play between the Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals, there hasn’t been an American League team lately that riles up Royals fans.
The Royals and the Athletics battled in a do-or-die wild card game last September that ranks as one of the most memorable games in Royals franchise history. Kansas City prevailed to fuel a 8-0 run in the post-season that’s engraved in their American League championship rings.
Former Royals designated hitter Billy Butler received one of those rings on Saturday, but in a matter of a few days, all those kind gestures were quickly forgotten.
Playing hard-nosed baseball that the Royals of the 1970s were known for — think Hal McRae sliding hard into Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph — Athletic's third baseman Brett Lawrie incited the weekend series to a boiling point when his slide took out Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar for the rest of the series.
Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura was ejected the next day for hitting Lawrie with a pitch at 90-plus miles per hour. Then, all was settled. That is, until Lorenzo Cain was plunked early in the series finale that resulted, not only in warnings to both dugouts, but in the ejection of Royals manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland.
“Certainly it doesn’t look great based on the way things are going,” said A’s manager Bob Melvin when asked about the pitch that hit Cain. “But it’s just a fastball down and in.”
In the eighth inning it exacerbated when Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera was given the heave-ho after a 100 mph pitch went behind the back of—who else?—Lawrie.
Even Escobar got his say from the bench and he was cleared from the area by getting kicked out along with acting manager Don Wakamatsu.
“That ball to Lawrie was something, I felt, that was completely unprofessional,” said A’s starting pitcher Scott Kazmir.
Jot it down: The Royals are in Oakland June 26-28 for another weekend series. No matter what public façade the players put on leading up to that series, baseball players don’t forget. Neither do the fans.
