Kansas City Royals: The five stages of the 2018 season

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(John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Royals 2018 campaign has been a roller coaster of emotions.

It was great being a Kansas City Royals fan.

For the first time in decades, the Royals were relevant. Aside from the incomprehensible 2003 campaign, Kansas City was back on the baseball map. They came agonizingly close to winning the 2014 World Series, stopped only by the incredible force of nature that was postseason Madison Bumgarner. Then, in 2015, the Royals took their revenge, literally fighting everyone in their path, refusing to relent until they took home the championship. The Royals were baseball royalty once again.

That offseason saw the Royals look to keep their window of contention open. Alex Gordon was surprisingly retained, signing the richest contract in team history. Ian Kennedy signed a five year deal with an opt-out after two years, as the Royals looked to fill the void left by the departure of Johnny Cueto. Even though the Royals failed to reach the postseason that year, there was optimism for 2017.

However, that optimism proved to be misplaced. Ventura tragically passed away in a car accident in the Dominican Republic, leaving a major void. Even with his loss, the Royals were still in contention at the trade deadline, and added pitching help in their quest for one final run. Instead, the trade failed miserably, as the Royals faltered down the stretch.

This season, meanwhile, has been a disaster. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain departed as free agents. Although Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar returned, the Royals struggled out of the gate. The fire sale has already begun, with Jon Jay and Kelvin Herrera being sent out. it is a matter of time before Moustakas joins them, sent to a team with postseason aspirations. Meanwhile, the Royals are languishing at the bottom of the standings in a race for the first overall pick in the 2019 Draft.

After the recent success of the Kansas City Royals, this season has been an unpleasant surprise. But we need to cope with reality. Here are the five stages of the Royals 2018 campaign.

Denial

The Kansas City Royals can’t be this bad! Danny Duffy can turn his season around! The Royals are due to go on a run!

There was hope that the Royals slow start was just that, an early season malaise due to several players signing late. Jon Jay was adept at getting on base and could help set the table. Lucas Duda could team up with Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, and, ideally, Jorge Soler to give the Royals some power in the lineup. The pitching staff, while they did not have an ace, could be solid. Jason Hammel and Ian Kennedy were once useful pieces – perhaps they could be again. Duffy could become a top of the rotation starter, filling a James Shields circa 2013 role.

Yet, as much as we wanted to deny what was happening before our eyes, we could not. The losses piled up. Brandon Maurer, Blaine Boyer, and Justin Grimm were napalm. Alcides Escobar was in the lineup every day. The Royals went from an exciting, dynamic team to playing dull, uninspired baseball.

As the season progressed, Kansas City Royals fans could no longer deny what they were seeing. The Royals were awful once again. That denial quickly turned into something else.

Anger

Fire Ned Yost!! He’s a ******* clown!! Is he even watching the game?!

We could no longer ignore the product on the field. The Kansas City Royals were putrid. The fall from grace had been sudden and dramatic. The glory of 2014 and 2015 felt so far away, a distant memory that only amplified the pain of the 2018 campaign.

We needed to lash out, to scream and to throw the remote at the television, to curse the baseball gods and their capriciousness. Yost became a target for that anger, his brilliance from the previous years forgotten.

But it was not just Yost. Anger was directed at virtually every member of the pitching staff. Jakob Junis, the darling of April, became a target for consternation, alongside Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Blaine Boyer, and so on. Even Danny Duffy fell victim to the barbs and anger of the fanbase. But for all the anger and vitriol, nothing changed.

It was time to try something else. It was time to step away from the anger, and let go of the hate. but not in that whiny Fred Durst way.

Bargaining

Hello, baseball gods? Are you listening? It’s me, Dave.

I know it’s been a while since we last talked. And I know that I said some really violent things. I didn’t mean what I said about Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. Or those comments about Sandy Koufax or Satchel Paige. And I definitely didn’t mean those comments about Old Hoss Rasbourn – I really don’t want his out shoot coming at my head, fired by his vengeful spectre.

Anyway, I was wondering if, maybe, we could make a deal. Could we give the Kansas City Royals one more run, allowing them to storm back like the Miracle Braves of 1914? Can we give Alex Gordon one more shot at glory, and reward Mike Moustakas for coming back? Can we give Alcides Escobar his Esky Magic once again, when his swinging at the first pitch of the game meant something great would happen?

In penance, I bring to you an offering. This case of brand new MLB baseballs has been left on the gravesite of Jim Creighton, the first true baseball superstar. Look upon my prostrate form, the battered Royals cap, and the well worn Dan Quisenberry jersey. Look upon my form and grant me this one wish.

So, what do you say? One more run this year?

Depression

The pyramid of empty beer bottles tell a story, and it is not a pleasant one.

Beseeching the baseball gods did not work. The Kansas City Royals remained horrendous. The losses counted to mount, and they continued to tumble down the standings. There were moments of false hope, such as when the Royals still mathematically had a chance to win the AL Central, but the Indians came together and eliminated even that faint hope.

All we had left were memories. The DVD of the 2015 championship had been worn out, the scrapbook flipped through to the point that the once sharp page corners were rounded beyond their years. The excitement, the adoration, the remembrance of how things used to be. All of it was gone.

And so, we sought to drown our sorrows. But there was only so much beer, so much that we could do. And yet, we could not turn away, even though our beloved Royals had returned to their previous form, reminiscent of the dark ages from the mid 2000s. Those nightmare seasons have returned to the forefront, leaving us with no other choice.

But then, something funny happened along the way, once those beer bottles began to pile up and overrun everything.

(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /

Acceptance

So what if the Kansas City Royals are awful? We were fans back in the Royals Trust days, and we can still be proud fans now.

More from Call to the Pen

Are the Royals a disaster? Are they a literal dumpster fire? Yes. But what does it matter? It’s still the Royals. This is still the same team that we have rooted for all these years, back when the idea of reaching .500 was a pipe dream. A berth in the World Series? A championship? Now that was just crazy talk.

But that happened. And those days need to start somewhere. Even the mighty Yankees had their dark ages, back when King George was running the Bronx Zoo like a demented prince. Dayton Moore built the Royals into a contender once before, making difficult trades and decisions to further the rebuild. it took some time, but in the end, the Royals emerged victorious, a fearsome team who won in a style that had not been seen in decades.

Eventually, the darkness will pass. The good times will come again, and the Royals will be competitive once more. It may take some time, but as the saying goes, Rome was not built in a day. And, to further the cliches, nothing lasts forever. This includes mediocrity, even if those seasons feel like they are lasting for a lifetime.

Next: Royals on pace for historic season

Let us keep the faith. The Kansas City Royals may be awful now, but at least that means a better choice of seats at Kauffman Stadium for the games.

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