(USA TODAY Sports Images)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — “When I was 10 years old, hitting rocks in the backyard, trying to hit it over the fence for a home run,” said Royals manager Ned Yost, “I never one time thought, ‘OK, bases loaded, two out, bottom of the ninth, Game 5 of the World Series.
“Never. It was always two outs, bottom of the ninth, Game 7 of the World Series.”
Ned Yost is right: Game 7 of the World Series is the specific scenario dreamed on by nearly every child who has ever picked up a baseball. And even with the stresses associated with managing an elimination game, neither Yost nor Giants manager Bruce Bochy seems anything but excited by the winner-take-all contest set up by the Royals’ win in Game 6 on Tuesday.
“It is a special game,” Bochy said. “It’s exciting. It is. I mean, we’re going to the seventh game. Good for baseball. You’ve got two teams going at it, and it wasn’t pretty (Tuesday), but the best thing, we do get to wash this off and play (Wednesday).”
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
Though recent trends over small samples are typically a terrible way to try to predict baseball outcomes, home teams have won the final game the last nine times a World Series has gone seven games. And Yost believes playing in Kauffman Stadium can make a difference.
“Did you see our crowd?” he asked. “Our crowd (Tuesday) was absolutely electric. It has been like that for us. Our guys have really felt the energy coming from the stands, and it just gives you a boost. Even though there is a lot of energy in San Francisco, it wasn’t for us. This energy is going to be absolutely for us.
“This crowd is going to be absolutely crazy, and these guys are more than comfortable playing in front of our home fans. They love it.”
Bochy, for his part, pointed out that his Giants beat long odds just to get here.
“I think a lot of people had us getting beat in the first and second round,” he said. “This club’s so resilient. They’re so tough. They’ll put this behind them. It’s nice to know that you’ve done it. You’ve come back against the odds and you can do it again.”
Tim Hudson will start for the Giants against the Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie in the final game of the World Series — a moment they both probably fantasized about as kids, like everyone did.
