The Kansas City Royals host the New York Mets in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series on Tuesday.
For the Royals, this is a rare chance to get it right in the Fall Classic after losing in seven games to the San Francisco Giants last season. For a long-suffering franchise that is just one year removed from a 28-year postseason drought—which began right after the Royals won their lone World Series title in 1985—Kansas City is cherishing the opportunity while trying to seize all the glory it missed out on last year.
The Mets are looking to end a championship drought that dates back to 1986. They last won the pennant in 2000 and have long been the misfit outfit in New York, playing in the shadow of baseball’s greatest franchise, the Yankees. Strong pitching and an otherworldly display at the plate from Daniel Murphy propelled them past the ultra-rich Los Angeles Dodgers and the tortured Chicago Cubs this postseason.
Both squads have a right to claim underdog status in the grand scheme of things. Kansas City is looking to win one for the smaller markets, while the Amazin’ Mets are looking to make sure that nickname is no longer said in jest (at least, you know, temporarily).
Here is the schedule and streaming info for Game 1.
2015 World Series Game 1 Viewing Info
When: Tuesday, October 27 at 8:07 p.m. ET
Where: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSportsGo
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Pre-Series Comments
Naturally, the Royals have found plenty of motivation this year from coming within one game of a championship in 2014. Dismissed by some before the season as lacking power and a true staff ace, the Royals went on to win an American League-best 95 games.
They’ve again captured the pennant, but it’s not likely they find much satisfaction in that feat. Last year’s pennant symbolizes what could have been.
“You’re proud of the American League pennant ring,” said hitting coach Dale Sveum, via the Kansas City Star‘s Vahe Gregorian, “but I have a hard time wearing it because it just reminds me that we lost.”
Pain aversion indeed might be part of what’s fueling the team.
“I mean, the world’s watching,” said pitcher Luke Hochevar, via Gregorian. “This is the big stage that everybody dreams of. … I don’t think you ever get over that. I don’t think you do.”
While the Royals come into this game with a wealth of experience from last year, the Mets might still be getting used to the idea of playing on baseball’s biggest stage.
“For all of us, we’re kind of sitting around the locker room all talking to each other, and I don’t think anything has really set in for us yet,” Matt Harvey said Monday, according to Newsday‘s Marc Craig. “Which in our minds I think is a positive.”
“If you would have told me I’d be here in April,” lefty starter Steven Matz said, via Craig, “I would have probably laughed at you.”
Public enemy No. 1 for Kansas City in this series is Murphy, who is having a playoffs for the ages. He has an absurd .421/.436/1.026 slash line, with seven home runs and 11 RBI in nine games. He’s drawing comparisons to Yankees’ playoff hero Paul O’Neill.
“Mostly it’s the fire with which he plays that reminded me of O’Neill more than anything else,” said baseball scout Bryan Lambe, according to the New York Post‘s Ken Davidoff. The Mets will hope Murphy can be the difference-maker in a series that is likely to feature plenty of fanned hitters.
Power pitching will be a key reason to tune into this World Series. The Royals have the trio of Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura, while the Mets can trot out Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Harvey.
Game 1 will see Volquez square off against Harvey, but pitching velocity will definitely be a factor through Game 3, per USA Today‘s Joe Lemire and Jorge L. Ortiz:
Three of the four starters who most regularly threw 95-plus gas will take the hill in the Fall Classic. In Game 3, each league’s most consistently hard throwers will oppose each other: Syndergaard and Ventura. Syndergaard hit 95 on 59.7% of pitches — the sport’s only hurler to throw a majority at that speed — and Ventura’s rate was 45.7%, which barely edges out the Mets’ Harvey at 45%.
The Mets will be looking to blow down a balanced lineup featuring the likes of crafty center fielder Lorenzo Cain and sluggers Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas. Cain believes his team can keep doing what it’s done better than most this season—clobber the fastball, per Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star:
I feel like we hit hard throwers well. It’s not that it’s easier to hit. We just hit fastballs well. But what we did during the season, it doesn’t matter. Right now, it’s go out there and hit these guys. They’re a very solid staff. We understand that. We know what we’re getting ourselves into. We know what they feature. Once we get between the lines, it’s about applying what you’ve seen.
Playing catcher day in and day out, Perez has drawn plenty of attention for his lasting presence behind the plate.
“He takes such a beating,” said Cain, per Dave Skretta of the Associated Press (h/t the Register-Guard). “Man, I know I couldn’t do it.”
Per Skretta, Game 1 will see Perez behind the plate for the 312th time in the past two years. It’s a remarkable feat of endurance, and the Royals pitching staff surely welcomes the consistency. If Perez can get his tired legs to crank out a few more home runs—he already has four this postseason—even better.
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