How would you define pain? Think about it, it's not hypothetical. We mean how would you really define pain? Is it being stood up at the altar by a promiscuous bride in front of family and friends? Is it banging your knee on the corner of your coffee table? Or, is it sticking with your hometown team through a 162 game schedule only to see them eliminated via extra innings walk-off after one--repeat, one fucking game?
That's what Oakland A's fans are going through tonight, thanks to MLB's emphasis on division championships, which put their favorite squad into a one game playoff opposite the Kansas City Royals. As bad as Northern California's balls may be stinging, it would've paled in comparison to Kansas City's fans, who've waited 29 years for this moment.
Early in the game it appeared that the A's were pulling all the right strings; and by "right strings" we mean playing Brandon Moss at DH over late-season acquisition Adam Dunn. Moss belted two dingers into the Missouri night for a combined five RBI (a new franchise playoff record) and appeared to give the A's the necessary insurance to hold-off a feisty Royals squad who mounted a late-game rally to try to validate the near-three-decade patience of their Kansas City faithful.
But, for the first time in a long time, the Royals did not fail their fans.
They broke out for three in the eighth, blew a big opportunity to score more, but then made amends by tying it in the bottom of the ninth, literally their last chance to prolong their season. This predictably caused the crowd to erupt go utterly ape shit.
The contest then went three extra frames, with every pitch tenser than the one that came before it. Finally, in the bottom of the 12th inning, the Royals' All Star catcher Salvador Perez knocked in Christian Colon (who had just stolen the team's seventh base of the night on a pitch-out) to give the Royals fans a win that wasn't nearly worth 29 years of playoff exile. In fact, not even close.
But still, what a way to erupt after so many years out of the national spotlight. Enjoy it Kansas City because the next team up is the No. 1 seeded Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
