Heartbreak of 2014 has shaped Kansas City Royals' 2015 World Series run

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Those demons, the ones that have tormented the Kansas City Royals for the past 363 days, vanished the moment they stepped onto the field Tuesday night, ready to play Game 1 of the World Series.

Finally, on the 30-year anniversary of the night they won their lone World Series title, the Royals felt free, with those vivid nightmares fading to black and white.

The Royals, who were just 90 feet away from tying Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, but left watching San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval snaring the final out and collapsing onto the ground in joy, no longer have to ruminate about the game that still haunts them.

“It was horrible,’’ Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Losing Game 7 of the World Series hurt. It hurt everybody.

“I went home, went on my farm, and locked the gate.

“I keep thinking in a week or two it will get better, and it didn’t get better. I’m thinking maybe in a month it will get better, and it didn’t get better. It never got better.

“We were one historic performance from Madison Bumgarner away from winning the World Series.’’

The New York Mets also lost the last World Series they appeared in, but that was 15 years ago - facing the Yankees at the height of their dynasty. No Mets player or coach was even in the organization. Their last World Series title was in 1986, when not a single member of the Mets’ World Series rotation was even born.

It’s been an amazing season for the Mets, who had reached the postseason only once in the last 15 years, but as the Royals will tell you, losing in the World Series almost hurts more than never getting there in the first place.

Go ahead, ask the Texas Rangers about the pain. They lost the World Series to the Giants in 2010, returned in 2011, and lost again, this time when they were just one strike away from their first title, only to lose Game 6 to the St. Louis Cardinals after David Freese’s heroics, and again in Game 7.

“I still haven’t watched the tape of the game,’’ Rangers GM Jon Daniels told USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve moved on from Game 6, but still think about it often. Everyone who was part of it does.

“Human nature, I think.’’

The Royals tortured themselves all winter by replaying the video tape of the World Series. Game by game. Pitch by pitch. Frame by frame.

And the ultimate heart-breaking conclusion, with Alex Gordon hitting a two-out single, and reaching third base on an error by center fielder Gregor Blanco, but left stranded with Salvador Perez making the final out.

“I kept watching that Game 7, wondering what would have happened if we sent Alex (Gordon) home,’’ Royals outfielder Terrance Gore said. “I know he would have been out. Still, you can’t help but think, what if they bobbled the ball. What if it was a bad relay throw. There are so many, “What ifs?’’’

Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson, who stood in the dugout watching the Giants celebrate on the field, believing it should have been the Royals spraying champagne, retreated to the clubhouse, angrily packed his belongings, slammed his locker, and stormed home.

“You almost feel like,’’ Dyson said, ‘Why did you come here if you’re going to lose?’ Nobody comes here to lose.

“I felt like a guy who went out on a date and got dumped by his girl. Heartbroken. What am I going to do next?’

“So I stayed in my bed. I couldn’t move. Like, I really couldn’t move if I wanted to.”

It was the same for first baseman Eric Hosmer, who struck out in that final ninth inning against Bumgarner.

“I don’t think I left my hotel room the entire day,’’ Hosmer said. “I just kind of sat there, and stayed in Kansas City for another two or three days, before I could even find the energy to book a flight home.

“You’re trying to wash it out as fast as you can obviously, but it’s tough.’’

Make that impossible.

“You’re depressed,’’ Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “You almost have to be depressed to get away from it. That’s what I did. I drove home to Florida, and tried to listen to the radio, but you’re still going through everything in your mind, especially the last game.

“It never leaves your mind. Never.

“I think Game 7 is on everybody's mind here still.’’

The Royals, to a man, will tell you they used that Game 7 loss as motivation this season. To make the pain go away, they needed a return trip to the World Series.

And this time, win it.

“This whole year was motivated based on the fact that we were right there, and didn’t win,’’ Royals closer Wade Davis said. “Sure, it’s awesome to get there, but it’s just not the same if we don’t win the whole thing.’’

Said Yost: “I look at it like you’re trying to climb Mount Everest and it’s a long, grueling haul. Then you get to the point of Game 7 of the World Series, where you’re four steps from getting to the top of that mountain, and you get knocked all the way back to the bottom.

“All that work really comes down to nothing.

“Now, all I want to do it win the World Series. That’s been my goal since Game 7. We talked about it all year long. It was important for us to get back and get another crack at it.”

The Royals, also motivated by few picking them to even return to the playoffs, with Baseball Prospectus predicting they would win only 72 games, coasted through the regular season with 95 victories, their most since 1980. Yet, they’ve struggled to survive in the postseason, down by four runs in the eighth inning of an elimination game against the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series, and then leaving the Blue Jays just 90 feet away from tying the ALCS in their Game 6 victory.

The Mets needed a strong finishing kick to win the NL East, but have cruised in the postseason, winning five playoff games in a row, while having gone 41 consecutive innings without even trailing.

They are two feel-good stories, but only one will have that dream season.

“The only team people remember are the champions,’’ Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. “That’s what made it so tough last year. When you’re 90 feet from tying that game, and lose, it’s a tough one to swallow. It’s going to stick with you for a long time, no matter what.

“Now that we’re back to the World Series, the only way to get rid of that feeling is to go out and finish the deal.

“We’ve got no choice.’’

Then, Royals hitting coach Dale Sveum says he can wear a ring again, refusing to put on the American League ring because of its painful reminder. Then, Jeremy Guthrie says, the pain of being the losing pitcher in Game 7 can subside. Then, pitcher Danny Duffy says, he can actually turn on the TV anytime without trepidation of seeing those Giants dancing on the field.

“I didn’t watch baseball at all in the offseason,’’ Duffy said. “It seemed like every time you turned on MLB Network or whatever sports channel it was, you saw Madison Bumgarner with the World Series trophy.’’

The bitter taste of that defeat can be washed away, Hosmer says, with just one swig of their beverage of choice.

“Champagne,’’ he said, laughing.

“We got a chance to turn that page, and instead of answering all of those questions about last year, and have those questions now be:

“So how good does it feel to win it?’’

Then, and only then, will that pain finally go away, erasing that image of a year ago.

“I remember seeing fans walking around with their heads down,’’ Dyson said, “the town, devastated just like us. It was hard around here. We tried our best to give it to them.

“It’s been 30 years now. Hopefully the wait is over.’"

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