Seth LaBean: Champions! I never imagined that Royals day would come

Kansas City Royals, World Series champions. My entire life, I never thought that I’d be able to write those words. I never thought that my team, my city, could do it. I thought our season was over after the bottom of the seventh inning of ALDS Game 4 in Houston. Why would I have thought any different?

I’ve been a Royals fan since I was a child. I basically came out of the womb wearing Royal blue. When I wasn’t, I was wearing powder blue. And throughout my life, I watched losing until I was blue in the face. For Royals fans like me, you have to understand the losing before you can understand the winning.

I’ve seen four 100-loss teams. I’ve lived through 13 90-loss seasons and probably remember 12 of them. My baseball fandom has been defined by losing. My friends and I used to be able to buy $3 tickets to Royals games. It cost us more to park than it did to get into the game.

I remember when I was a freshman in college, and the Cardinals won the World Series. Most of the students in the dormitory at my college in Kansas City were from St. Louis. It’s hard to express how painful it was to watch Cardinals fans run around celebrating when I had never even gotten to celebrate in my city.

I remember watching a game on TV against the Cleveland Indians where Shin-Soo Choo hit a line drive that bounced and struck a bird to beat us in the 10th. I remember making nicknames up for players, so we could yell something positive at game. You had Matt “Bonescrusher” Stairs, “It’s not a snack, it’s Emil” Brown, and Mark “Grooooodz” Grudzielanek long before Mike “Mooooose” Moustakas ever came along.

I remember when the hot dog derby was the most competitive thing on the field.

I remember crowds of 8,000 people on a nightly basis.

I remember those people wearing more Chiefs gear than Royal blue.

I remember when the high point for the Royals was sweeping the Yankees at home in 2005. I remember a lot of broomsticks in the house that night. I remember Ken Harvey mistaking Jason Grimsley’s face for a catcher’s mitt on a throw home.

In those days, there was no hope. There was no “Royals magic.” Those teams, and those times, couldn’t be further from what the Royals are today. They force mistakes and take advantage of opportunities. They scout and put information into motion. They keep the line moving and don’t strike out. They rely on and believe in one another. They reflect Kansas City.

This team gave this us something to cheer for. They gave us something to dream about. And now they’ve given us something to celebrate.

It hasn’t quite hit me yet; the reality of it all. Being born two years after the Royals’ last World Series victory, I’ve never known what it feels like to be baseball royalty. After coming 90 feet short last year, now I know. Now I know what it takes to win a championship, but I still don’t know how to feel.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Seth LaBean: Champions! I never imagined that Royals day would come."