Rouse: Sunday great for KC Sports
WIZARDS SHOCKING EXHIBITION WIN HEADLINES GREAT DAY IN KC SPORTS, by Charles Rouse
KANSAS CITY – Sunday was a day to be remembered in Kansas City sports lore. Only a slow, painful pounding by the reigning World Series champion and perennial Kansas City nemesis New York Yankees stood in the way of what turned out to be an historic day in the annals of Kansas City-based pro sports franchises. Because the Royals were the ones who got things started on Sunday for the local sports teams, it appeared to be shaping up as just another day of high hopes only to end in bitter disappointment.
The Royals, hoping to salvage a respectable split in the four-game road series with their most-hated opponent, jumped out in front 2-0 in the third inning of Sunday’s series finale, only to quickly squander the lead as the Yankees scored four times in the bottom half of the inning. New York held a 6-3 lead when the skies opened up, producing a downpour that lasted almost two-and-a-half hours. It only got worse from there, with the formidable, star-laden Yankee lineup pounding away for an eventual 12-6 triumph over the one-and-done Royals.
That’s when things took a huge u-turn for the better. As it turned out, if you were playing at home on Sunday in Kansas City, fate was definitely on your side. Case in point: The Wizards, who have struggled all year to find the victory column, handed international soccer giant Manchester United its first loss on the team’s five-city North American tour before a record-setting KC soccer crowd.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City T-Bones expanded their first-place lead to two games in the independent Northern League with a 10-1crushing of the Rockford RiverHawks, and our hometown entry in the World Team Tennis league, the Explorers, capped its best season ever after 18 seasons with the WTT championship. And you could add another big win for the city with the Baseball Hall of Fame induction of Whitey Herzog, arguably the most popular and unquestionably the most successful manger in Kansas City Royals history.
An emotionally draining and heartfelt day like no other in recent or distant memory among Kansas City sports fans. Following is a quick summary of yesterday’s milestone events:
Wizards whip soccer world giant Man United, spurred on by their largest home crowd
If their much-anticipated “friendly” match with European soccer powerhouse Manchester United is any indication, the Kansas City Wizards can’t wait to get into their new, much larger permanent home currently under construction next door to their temporary home at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan. The Wizards gave a record-setting crowd of over 52,000 at the New Arrowhead Stadium a win for the ages, defeating United 2-1, with all of the scoring in the game coming in the action-packed first 45 minutes.
The Wizards stunning victory, which has been somewhat of a rarity this MLS season, may not have been as important as the message it sent about the growing popularity of soccer in Kansas City and the bright future that looms for the Wizards. The fan attendance for this exhibition match was 20,000 greater than the previous largest crowd to watch the Wizards in Kansas City, three years ago when the Wizards played the Los Angeles Galaxy (before David Beckham was signed to play with the Galaxy) at Arrowhead.
The large attendance also provided a huge boost for Kansas City’s bid to be one of the host cities for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup should the United States be selected as a future host country.
Herzog goes into Baseball Hall of Fame as a Cardinal, but
around here, he will forever be remembered as a Royal
I’m not here because of my playing career, I’m hear because of what I did as a manager, Whitey Herzog assured the crowd of nearly 10,000 that attended the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y. Herzog, who had an eight-year career as a player and played for four different teams, including the Kansas City Athletics, managed in the major leagues for 18 more years, joined former Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos star Andre Dawson and former National League umpire Doug Harvey as newly enshrined members of baseball’s most elite fraternity, the Hall of Fame.
Most of Herzog’s comments during his surprisingly short induction speech were directed to his 11 years as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, whom he led to three National League pennants and a World Series title in 1982. But he will forever be remember on the west side of the Show-Me state as one of the most popular managers in Kansas City Royals history and the first manager to take them to the playoffs (1976-78).
Never one who has been at a loss for words or stories, the crusty, down-home-boy Herzog, who is now 78, purposely shortened his remarks from what was to be about a 17-minute speech down to around 11 minutes. “The program was dragging a little bit, and I wanted to hurry it up,” Herzog told reporters afterward with that slight glint of disbelievabilty in his eye. Herzog’s remarks at the podium may have been the shortest of the day, but he may have had the most moving line when he closed his comments with: “Being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame is like going to heaven before you die.”
Explorers capture their first WTT championship and do it in front of their supportive home crowd
The Kansas City Explorers of the World Team Tennis league have come as close as you can to a championship without winning – runner-up status – once before. This time, however, they finished the job. As culmination to a whirlwind weekend, Kansas City’s pro tennis team came from behind for a thrilling 21-18 victory over the Eastern Division-champion New York Sportimes to win the WTT final and bring the Explorers their first championship in the team’s 18-year history.
With Kansas City serving as the host site for this year’s WTT Finals, the Explorers played their way into the final and a home-court advantage with a 20-17 home win Friday over the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers to claim the Western Division title. The women’s events have been Kansas City’s strength all season, and the Explorers used that strength to their strategic advantage in defeating the Sportimes. As the designated home team, Kansas City was able to set the order of the games in the match. As a result, Explorers head coach Brent Haygarth scheduled women’s singles and women’s doubles as the final two events in the match.
Kansas City’s Jarmila Groth, who was named WTT Finals MVP, won her singles match over the Sportimes’ Abigail Spears and then paired with teammate Kveta Peschke for a 5-3 doubles victory to clinch the championship for the Explorers. “On paper, our girls were stronger.” Haygarth said. “If they (New York) had the chance (to set the order of the matches), they would have gotten our girls out of the way early. We were able to keep them until the end, and it proved huge.”
The Explorers came within one win of the championship in 2008, losing to the New York Buzz by the same 21-18 margin that carried them to victory on Sunday. Last season, Kansas City finished fourth in the Western Division, three games out of the playoffs.
Charles (Chip) F. Rouse III, the Kansas City Sports Examiner, has spent over 40 years working in and with the news media. Rouse, a journalist by training and a graduate of the University of Kansas, has served in the role of newspaper reporter; in addition to radio and television. To view Chip’s sports articles, including this one, on Examiner.com, please click here. He welcomes your comments at crouse@massappealnews.com.