Balk-off, the sequel

More Godfather Part II than Police Academy 4. Yes, I'm saying this game should win an Oscar.

If it’s worth doing once, why not try it twice?

According to stats guru Dave Holtzman, the Royals played the first 8,616 games in franchise history without ever winning a game via a walk-off balk. Then the Mets came to town and the Royals were on a heater—really, their only one of the year—and there was just no stopping them. Reliever Josh Walker, fresh into the game, didn’t even deliver a pitch before he ended the night by balking in the winning run.

The finishing touch to Tuesday’s tilt against the White Sox wasn’t as tidy as a fresh reliever not even delivering a pitch to end the game, but it was just as satisfying. The result? A second balk-off in the last 33 games.

Baseball can be weird.

Regarding this most recent balk-off, any time you can get one over on the White Sox like that, it’s delicious. This came with the bases loaded and two outs. What made it even more special was that it was the coda to a six-run comeback. It came just a day after the Royals posted 12 runs against these same White Sox, the second-most they’ve scored in a game all year.

As the Sox are staring directly into the white light, losing these games to the Royals can’t even rate as the most embarrassing thing that has happened to them in the last few weeks.

With only the Royals keeping them out of last place in the Central, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf finally remembered he owned a ballclub just in time to threaten relocation around the same moment he administered the mercy firing of his long-time vice president of baseball operations, Kenny Williams, and general manager, Rick Hahn. That he replaced the duo with internal hire Chris Getz (without interviewing anyone else) along with rumors of Dayton Moore joining him in the front office only ups my personal enjoyment factor.

It was with this backdrop of front office shuffling of nameplates that a couple of fans attending a game caught some bullets. The White Sox insisted the shots came from outside the stadium; the investigation seemed to uncover that one of those wounded smuggled the gun into the stadium.

It’s Twitter, so I have no idea if this is true. It’s a fantastic tale. Made even more fantastic by the subsequent cancellation of a concert by Vanilla Ice for safety reasons. Word to your mother, indeed.

Getz, by the way, completely bombed his introductory press conference. He will probably be in his position for the next 15 years.

Enough about the White Sox. This is a Royals newsletter, damnit.

So for the life of me, I cannot fathom how the Royals are worse than the White Sox this year. Maybe they’re not worse. The records say they are, but often you have to look at that through the prism of expectations. The Sox thought they could get in the mix in the Central. They have bombed spectacularly. Poor Pedro Grifol. He doesn’t deserve this.

The Royals meanwhile were using this season to evaluate. Yeah, they’ve been doing that pretty much for the last six seasons or so, but still…there were no expectations of contention here. That would’ve been wildly unrealistic. Sure, the sheer volume of losses is embarrassing. We are watching the worst Royals team in franchise history this year. But what’s the difference between 90-odd losses and 110? Position in a draft lottery? It would probably be better for the psyche if the Royals were battling in fourth place rather than posting one or two wins a week in the cellar. Big picture, it doesn’t really matter when you’re losing this much.

The thing I’ve feared as the losses have piled up for the Royals is that it would turn the clubhouse into a bad space. Once that rot sets in, it’s extremely difficult to remedy. That hasn’t seemed to happen, which is a testament to the players and the management. There aren’t many veterans on this team, but they are the right ones.

Across the field, the White Sox vibes are so incredibly toxic that I wouldn’t be all that surprised if the Royals ultimately passed them in the standings. There are 22 games left and the Royals are currently around 10 games behind the Sox. That’s not going to happen, but the fact I’m even mentioning it at this point of the season tells you how things are going for Chicago. It wouldn’t mean anything because the Royals are still on target for 110 losses or so. When a veteran team with higher expectations goes in the tank, the environment can turn awfully salty. And once that happens rock bottom keeps getting lower and lower. The Bell Axiom (never say it can’t get worse) starts working overtime.

The Cole Ragans buzzsaw opened September the way he zipped through August. The AL Pitcher of the Month punched out seven and allowed just one hit in six innings of work. He got a miss on 40 percent of all swings, an astounding number. It’s what happens when a team that doesn’t care about their season meets a pitcher who is carving up everyone who steps into that box.

Ragans is on top of his game at the moment. It probably doesn’t matter if he’s facing the Braves or the A’s. He’s certainly going to destroy a team like the White Sox at the moment.

Tuesday’s game was delightful in a different way. The Royals staked the Sox to a six-run lead after two and a half innings. Starter Brady Singer, fresh off returning from the paternity list (congrats!), saw his velocity down about a tick and subsequently pocketed his changeup. With just two pitches—and neither one of them particularly effective—he was knocked around. Credit to him though for battling through two more innings to save a little strain on the bullpen.

With Angel Zerpa working behind him for three innings, it gave the Royals the opportunity to chip away at that lead. It was methodical. One in the third when MJ Melendez drove home Maikel Garcia with two outs. Garcia had tripled to lead off the inning. Two in the fourth on solo home runs from Nelson Velázquez and Michael Massey. One in the fifth from another solo home run, this time from that dude Melendez. One more in the sixth on a pair of singles, an error and a productive out.

They can be very chippy, these Royals.

A picture can tell you so much.

For example, in the above photo, we learn the game is tied in the ninth inning at six runs apiece. The bases are loaded. There are two outs. Edward Olivares is facing Gregory Santos.

And…Holy crap there are three seconds left on the pitch clock and he’s still looking in for a sign. He’d better hurry.

Let’s go to the video…

Yeah, Santos totally rushed it. He knew the clock was ticking and wasn’t close to coming set. Dunno…and automatic ball for the first pitch, even with the bases loaded, seems preferable in that situation to a balk.

The reactions were priceless.

There was Garcia just a fraction ahead of the third base umpire calling the balk.

Catcher Korey Lee is wondering why Garcia is wandering so far off third base. Maybe there’s a play to be made!

Instead, it’s agony. At this moment, I imagine Lee is feeling like he just ate some bad crab legs.

The reaction from the White Sox dugout isn’t quite on par with the Game Five World Series reaction from the crowd at Citi Field, but it’s still quite good.

I can’t decide on a favorite look. Is it the daggers at the umpire or Santos? Is it the hands upward in the “what the hell just happened” pose? Or is it simply the stare into the void that is White Sox baseball?

Meanwhile, Garcia gets a celebratory lift from The Captain.

Following the Royals has been rough this season. Sometimes, though, there is joy to be found. As the season is now in its final month, I relish this kind of victory. These are the moments that I’ll miss watching this winter.