2015 World Series Analysis
This year, the World Series was a matchup that many fans and analysts did not expect. The New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals squared off in a very highly viewed World Series.
“As a Met fan, I knew we would be good but not once did I think we can make the World Series,” said a long die hard Met fan, Kenny Smith.
The last time the Mets won the World Series was in 1986 and the last time they made the playoffs was 2006. When they lost to the Cardinals in seven games in the NLCS.
The Royals have not won a World Series since 1985, but last year in 2014 they were in it. They lost in seven games to the San Francisco Giants and that left a bitter taste in their mouth.
“Losing the World Series last year was horrible, I’d rather not make the playoffs then lose in the World Series,” said John Smith, a long time Royals fan who was alive to see their last championship.
The Outcome
The Kansas City Royals beat the Mets in five games to become world champs. The New York Mets couldn't buy a hit, or go a game without an error if their live depended on it. The Royals took advantage of the Mets errors. They came up coming up clutch in late innings, took advantage of the Mets mistakes and anemic hitting.
“I love my Mets man, It feels like we gave the World Series away because of our errors.,” said a long lived Mets fan, Sam Kennedy.
The identity of the New York Mets is their starting pitching. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergard are three young studs who have an average of a 95 mph fastball with nasty off speed pitches. They came through, for most of the time.
Daniel Murphy during the playoff run has been the hottest hitter in recent memory.
“Murphy just passed Jackson with the homerun record, he is our Mr October,” said a Staten Island resident Anthony Collette, who is a die hard Met fan.
Murphy hit .529 with four homers, and six RBIs in the NLCS. Those stats were against the Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. The Mets beat both Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grankie, two cy young pitchers for the Dodgers.
“I can't even explain Murphy,” hitting coach of the Mets, Kevin Long said to USA Today. “Murphy is on a different planet right now. He really is. The last at-bat, he's looking for a changeup, and he hits a 97 mph fastball out. That's where he's at right now. It's mind-boggling. It really is.”
In the World Series, it was a complete different story, Murphy went from the hero to the villain. He went from the MVP of the Mets to the MVP for the Royals.
Daniel Murphy against the Royals only batted 181. with 0 homers. His hitting performance went ice cold when it mattered the most, due to how great the Royals pitching is. His slump put the Mets offense to a halt but thats not why he was the Royals MVP. It was his famous error that cost the Mets.
In game 4 of the series at Citi Field, was the moment when the Met fans turned against him. In the top of the 9th inning the Mets were winning 3-2. The Royals had a guy on second and first with one out, then it happened.
With the tying run on second base, Eric Hosmer hit a weak chopper to Murphy. He charged, and he came up empty. The ball went right under his glove causing the Royals to have bases loaded with only one out, instead of having guy on third and second with 1 out. An easy play turned out to be a nightmare.
“I tried to one-hand it, and it probably deserved to be two-handed,” Murphy said in his post game conference. “I just misplayed it. It went right under my glove, and they made us pay for it. It put us in a really bad spot.”
The chances of the Mets winning the game before the error, was 69 percent. After the error, the chances of them winning was only 34 percent, according to Fangraph.com.
Murphy turned into Billy Buckner, the first baseman for Boston in 1986 who also had a costly error right through his legs. Guess who it was against ? The New York Mets who won the World Series that year due to his error.
After Murphy’s blunder the Royals scored 3 runs causing the game to go from the score of 3-2 to 5-3.
Giving the Royals chances to win the game will not work in your favor most of the time and game 4 showed it. If the play was made, the Mets still would have been in good shape to win the game with 2 outs with one of the best closers on the mound. With the lost the series went to 3-1 in favor of Royals instead of series tied 2-2 with another game at home.
“Losers know how to lose and winners know how to win. This World Series is a perfect example,” said in anger a 30 yr old die hard mets fan, Anthony Collete Jr.
The identity of the Kansas City Royals is that they are a complete team on every phase of the game. And they showed that in the series by: clutch hitting, dominant pitching, and their stellar bullpen. The Royals were the better team and their experience helped them a lot. The Mets had errors late in games that the Royals took advantage of.
“We gave three games away. The 1st, 4th, and 5th games of the series, we choked. We had horrid errors that cost us the games. We did not deserve to win,” said die hard Mets fan, Tony Ligamari.
“THANK GOD WE WON,” screamed in excitement, Amanda Gori, a long time Royals fan. “The Mets kept giving us chances to win games and you cant do that with my team. We are the best team in baseball and when you give us chances to win, we come up clutch.”
Overall the Royals were the better team. They made the plays, their pitching shut down the Mets offense and they were clutch in big moments.
The Mets had many chances to win more games in the series and maybe win the World Series but blew it. The Mets turned into the good old Mets, the team that is known for playing like little leaguers. The Mets couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat and their little league defense cost them another World Series ring.
