Don Denkinger.
If you say that name in a crowded bar in St. Louis, you're probably going to get a drink thrown at you. Mention it in Kansas City, and you might get a polite nod of gratitude or a knowing smirk. That’s the power of the Kansas City Royals and the World Series history—it isn't just about box scores; it’s about one of the most controversial calls in the history of professional sports.
Baseball is slow. It's methodical. Then, in a split second, everything breaks.
In 1985, the "I-70 Series" pitted the cross-state rivals against each other. The St. Louis Cardinals were arguably the better team on paper. They had the momentum. They had the lead in Game 6. They were three outs away from popping champagne and cementing a dynasty. Then came the bottom of the ninth. Jorge Orta hit a routine grounder. Todd Worrell beat him to the bag. Everyone on the planet saw it. Except for Denkinger.
He called him safe.
He was out. He was out by a mile. But in 1985, there was no "New York" to call. No high-definition slow-motion replay that takes five minutes to dissect a frame. There was just a man in a black coat making a mistake that changed the trajectory of two franchises forever. The Royals capitalized, won Game 6, and then absolutely demolished the Cardinals 11-0 in Game 7 to take the crown.
The Underdog Identity of Kansas City
People forget that the Royals weren't always the "small market" afterthought they are sometimes painted as today. In the late 70s and early 80s, they were a powerhouse. George Brett was a god in dirt-stained polyester. He didn't just hit the ball; he punished it. But the Kansas City Royals and the World Series had a rocky relationship before that '85 breakthrough. They’d been bruised by the Phillies in 1980. They had the talent, but they lacked the hardware.
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The 1985 win gave the city an identity. It wasn't just about winning a trophy; it was about proving that a team from the middle of the country could stand toe-to-toe with the titans.
Then came the drought.
Thirty years. That is a long time to wait. Most fans who saw the '85 win had kids, those kids grew up, and those kids had kids of their own before the Royals ever smelled a World Series again. It’s hard to explain to people who don't follow baseball how soul-crushing a three-decade rebuild feels. You start to think the 1985 win was a fluke, a gift from an umpire that the universe was punishing you for ever since.
The 2014 Heartbreak and the 2015 Redemption
Fast forward to 2014. The "Boys in Blue" were back. They weren't a team of superstars; they were a team of contact hitters and a bullpen that felt like a cheat code. Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland. The "HDH" trio. If the Royals were leading after the sixth inning, the game was basically over. You could turn off the TV.
They ran into Madison Bumgarner.
Honestly, what Bumgarner did in that World Series shouldn't be legal. He was a machine. In Game 7, the Royals had the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth. Alex Gordon was standing there, 90 feet away from immortality. Salvador Perez popped out.
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The city was devastated. But that loss set the stage for 2015.
Most teams fold after a Game 7 loss. They get "hangover" seasons. Not these guys. The 2015 Kansas City Royals and the World Series run was a masterclass in "keep the line moving" baseball. They didn't care about home runs. They cared about making pitchers work. They cared about stolen bases. They played a brand of "small ball" that experts said was dead.
When they met the New York Mets in 2015, the narrative was all about the Mets' young, fire-breathing starting rotation. Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard. These guys threw gas. But the Royals didn't blink. They stayed aggressive. They forced errors.
The defining moment? Eric Hosmer’s "Mad Dash" in Game 5.
It was a bad baseball play. Mathematically, he should have been out. If Lucas Duda makes a halfway decent throw to home plate, Hosmer is a goat. Instead, the throw was wild, Hosmer scored, and the Royals broke the Mets' spirit in extra innings. That play summarized the entire era: chaos, pressure, and a refusal to play it safe.
Why the Royals' World Series Legacy Matters Now
The landscape of baseball has shifted significantly since 2015. With the implementation of the pitch clock and the banning of the shift, the style of play the Royals used to win—high contact, high speed—is actually becoming the blueprint for the league again.
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But there’s a deeper lesson in the history of the Kansas City Royals and the World Series. It’s about the window of opportunity. For small-market teams, that window isn't a permanent fixture. It’s a literal window that stays open for maybe three or four years before the payroll becomes unsustainable and the stars head for the coasts.
The Royals' success proves that you don't need a $300 million payroll to win, but you do need a specific, cohesive identity. In '85, it was the brilliance of Brett and Saberhagen. In '15, it was a bullpen that shortened the game to six innings and a lineup that refused to strike out.
We often talk about the Yankees or the Dodgers as the "faces" of the World Series. But the Royals represent the soul of the postseason. They represent the "what if" factor.
What You Can Learn From the Royals' Strategy
If you're a student of the game, or even if you're just looking at how organizations build success under pressure, the Royals provide a few concrete takeaways:
- Shortening the Game: The 2014-2015 Royals proved that if you have three elite relief pitchers, you don't need your starters to go eight innings. You only need them to get through five. This changed how front offices viewed bullpen construction.
- Contact Over Power: In an era of "three true outcomes" (home run, walk, strikeout), the Royals went the other way. They put the ball in play. This forces the defense to make plays, and in the high-pressure environment of the World Series, defenses often crumble.
- The Importance of Chemistry: It sounds like a cliché, but that 2015 locker room was famously tight. Many of those players—Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Escobar—grew up in the minor league system together. That shorthand matters when the lights are brightest.
- Embracing the Villain Role: In 2015, the Royals were often criticized for being "too aggressive" or getting into too many on-field scuffles. They didn't care. They used that "us against the world" mentality to fuel their postseason runs.
Baseball is a game of failures. Even the best hitters fail 70% of the time. The Kansas City Royals and the World Series story is one of enduring those failures—the 30-year gap, the 2014 Game 7 heartbreak—until the moment arrives where you finally break through.
If you want to truly understand the history of the Fall Classic, look past the pinstripes. Look at the small-market team in the Midwest that refuses to go away. Look at the blown calls and the mad dashes. That’s where the real drama lives.
Next time you watch a postseason game, pay attention to the bullpen usage in the seventh inning. That's the house that the 2014 Royals built. Check the strikeout rates of the winning team. If they're putting the ball in play and making things happen, they're channeling the 2015 squad.
The history isn't just in the books. It's in the way the game is played today.