Fear the royals, the unlikely scholars of October

BALTIMORE — It was just after 8:45 p.m. Wednesday when the 2024 Royals gathered on the infield turf at Camden Yards for a class photo. Just an hour earlier, they defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-1, won the short Wild Card Series and played the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Next came the champagne, then the cigars, and as the players' families and children began parading through the hazy clubhouse shortly after 8:30 a.m., they headed onto the field.

The spotlight was on captain Salvador Perez, the 34-year-old catcher who hadn't won a postseason series in nine years. He continued to scream. A few feet to his right stood valedictorian Bobby Witt Jr., the precocious shortstop responsible for a game-winning RBI for the second straight game. He smiled. At the other edge of the picture stood professor Matt Quatraro, the second-year manager with a syllabus that consists of one word: “Today.”

The group consisted of around 100 people in total. There was JJ Picollo, the general manager who had turned a 106-loss club into a contender. Scattered everywhere was Kansas City's once-suspect bullpen, which had blanked the Orioles for the second straight game. They were all surrounded by friends, family and co-workers – soaked in champagne, smelling of light beer and smoke – and when the photo was finally taken, a portable speaker began playing a Kendrick Lamar song. Perez led the group in a cathartic sing-along.

“They don’t like us! They don't like us! They don’t like us!”

In this case, it's not just a diss track. In the annals of baseball history, there has never been a team like the 2024 Royals. It may sound exaggerated; After all, it was only the wildcard round. But on Wednesday they became the second team to win a postseason series, a year after losing at least 100 games. The other was the 2020 Marlins, who sneaked into the playoffs in a 60-game season. This means that Kansas City will become the first team ever to lose 106 games one year, make the playoffs the next year after 162 games, and then knock out another playoff team.

“You have to look at it from a lot of different angles,” Quatraro said. “When you get knocked down, you have two options: you can get up or you can curl up in a ball. And there's no one in this room who does that. They live like that. When you get a whole group of people together who live like that, it’s really something special.”

The Royals are making the most of this rare opportunity. (Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images)

Imagine a Sunday afternoon 11 days ago: The Royals had just been defeated by the San Francisco Giants, losing their seventh straight game. What had once felt like a dream season fell apart. Their lead over the third wild card spot was now just one game. The clubhouse felt like a morgue. And then substitute Will Smith stood up as the players prepared to exit. He wanted to remind her of the good news: they had a day off tomorrow.

“You’re looking at this wrong,” Smith said. “There’s no way we can lose tomorrow.”

The comment lingered in the air for a moment. Then substitute coach Paul Hoover spoke up.

“Laugh,” he said.

They still had two options.

Two days later, the Royals began a three-game sweep against the Nationals. This Friday they had secured a wildcard spot. On Wednesday in Baltimore, the club's special strengths were on full display – its steely resilience, a battle-tested starting rotation, a supporting cast of unlikely heroes and a shining star at shortstop.

The bottom of the fifth featured reliever Angel Zerpa coming on with one out, the score was 1-1, the bases were loaded and Camden Yards was ready to unleash a fury of pent-up energy. Zerpa was recently on the Triple-A Omaha roster, where he was working on breaking ball again. On Wednesday, he got Baltimore's Colton Cowser to hit a 97 mph sinker that floated inward and hit the batter in the hand. He then relieved Adleyrutschman on a ground ball to Witt. In what Quatraro would call “the greatest spot of his life,” Zerpa embodied the ethos of the 2024 Royals.

“He loves to pitch,” Quatraro said.

That was just the start of the end of the sixth. One night, after driving in the only run in a 1-0 victory, Witt faced Orioles reliever Yennier Cano with runners on the corners and two outs. When he hit a hard grounder up the middle, pretty much everyone in the Royals dugout knew Witt would beat him.

“It's kind of the embodiment of our entire season,” said starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings. “Zelor and heart.”

There are all kinds of October stories. There are dynasties that emerge year after year. There are the little market spoilers who make up improbable stories. But nine years after winning their last World Series, the Royals are one of October's strangest specimens anywhere. They don't make the playoffs often – only four times since 1985. But when they do, they rarely lose. The Royals' last three appearances in the postseason – 1985, 2014 and 2015 – saw them make it to the World Series. Entering Wednesday, they improved to 9-1 in their last 10 postseason appearances, their only loss coming in seven games against the Giants in the 2014 World Series.

Perhaps the experience of being part of those runs a decade ago encouraged Picollo, the Royals' GM, to focus on what's possible. The club spent $110 million in free agency last winter, retooling its starting lineup and trying, at least internally, to persuade itself to compete. It wasn't a deception; it was faith. And when the Royals got off to a good start in April and May, Picollo began to feel something real.

“When we got there around June 1,” Picollo says, “I thought, You know what? Why not?”

As the wins piled up, the Royals front office tried to stay in the moment. The squad remained relatively healthy. They added talent in a timely manner. The players, says Picollo, will show you who you are.

“They were the inspiration for us to keep pushing and keep pushing and keep pushing,” he said. “You’re just in the moment. We had a good team all year long. So you continue to think that you are a good team. Then they start to believe. And we all believe. And next thing you know, we’re here.”

On Wednesday, Here was the infield at Camden Yards just before 9 p.m. On Saturday it will be Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the ALDS.

“Now look at these professional champagne poppers,” said outfielder Tommy Pham, one of those late-season additions.

As the party raged on Wednesday evening, a 71-year-old appeared in the clubhouse wearing a soaked blue T-shirt and flip-flops with a beer in his hand. It was George Brett, a member of the Royals Hall of Fame, who spent his career dueling with the Yankees. This time he's just there, a spectator watching a wild story. The 2024 Royals are not the Royals of the 1970s, they are not the World Champions of nine years ago and they are not the team that lost 106 games last year.

They're a hungry group with two choices, Quatraro says, and they only know one way to live.

“As cliché as it sounds,” Witt said, “you could just feel it with this team.”

(Top photo of team photo: Icon Sportswire via AP Images)