Tense World Series finale turns ecstatic for Kansas City fans
The New York Mets deadened the crowds around Kansas City for eight innings, but then the Royals’ late comeback — winning their first World Series in 30 years — turned fans wild with glee.
Fireworks boomed at 11:34 p.m. with the final strikeout.
From three watch parties around the city:
Power & Light
The atmosphere was electrifying at the Power & Light District. It was already filled to capacity an hour before the game, with fans lined three deep on the sidewalk outside.
The beer was freely flowing but the crowd was not. Moving even a few feet through the throng was a major challenge.
This crowd was ready for a party.
They chanted “Ed-die! Ed-die!” when starting pitcher Edinson Volquez took the mound.
The crowd was on its feet for hours. You couldn’t sit if you wanted to.
Even when things looked grim, they chanted, “I believe that we will win!”
And then they did.
“Kansas City just did it!” said Weston Schmidt of Shawnee. “This was amazing. Exhilarating. I’m 30 years old and have never seen anything like this. What a beautiful thing for Kansas City!”
After midnight, the crowd was still growing and police were beginning to block access to the district.
Westport
All night long the folks at Ale House knew they were watching a grinding, grueling game. They were loud and proud from the get-go and grew more during the knew-it-was-coming ninth inning rally.
When the Royals cleared the bases in the 12th inning, Sam Cruse of Mission slapped his palms raw with the friends he had been standing with all night.
“What does this mean for Kansas City?” Cruse said. “Everything. It will rejuvenate the city. The fans of Kansas City deserved every inning of this.”
The fans streaming out onto Broadway had a Christmas morning look on their faces. “It was destiny,” said John Doran of Lenexa. “It was storybook.”
Brian Jones of Overland Park: “It’s fun to see Kansas City come together.”
Police parked cruisers at both ends of Archibald Avenue between Broadway and Pennsylvania Avenue, and fans congregated there.
Prairie Village
Johnny’s Tavern at 83rd Street and Mission Road stayed packed with fans from 5 p.m. to well past 11 p.m. Every booth, table and spot at the bar taken, more than 200 people.
The sentiment from the start: End this series tonight. Win.
“Yes, I did. Yes, I did,” John Arnold, 67, said in the early innings when asked whether he expected a Game 5 Royals victory. He wore a Royals cap with a 1985 World Series pin tacked on the side. He and his wife, Diana, 53, sat parked at the bar in the spot they’ve occupied for every post-season Royals game.
All night Monty Spradling, 54, of Leawood shouted at the television, screamed at Royals’ swings at the air — “You guys are giving it to ’em! Come on!” — but, still, he kept the faith.
Julie McGuigan, 44, of Kansas City wore a tiara to the restaurant — a crown on the night to take the crown — as she sat with Prairie Village friend Vicki Utne, 42, who felt more nervous for Game 5 than she did during the Royals’ Game 4 comeback.
“Tonight it could be over,” she’d said, wanting it to be so, as did Mike King and wife, Becky, of Leawood.
The Royals had come from behind too many times for these fans to ever despair.
“They’re going to come back. That’s what they do,” Sara Prem, 54, of Overland Park said even as the Royals were down 2 to 0 in the top of the ninth inning. The crowd jumped to its feet as it happened. Two runs. Tied game. Extra innings.
Then . . . what seemed like fate.
“If we can get to their bullpen I know we we will have this locked up!” Michael Pope, 28, of Lawrence said.
Then, it was 7 to 2. The fans at Johnny’s were on their feet, high fives all around, pumping their fists.
“Thirty years man,” said Austin Johnston, 28, of Roeland Park. “I’ve been alive for 28. . . .I haven’t processed it yet.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 3:22 AM with the headline "Tense World Series finale turns ecstatic for Kansas City fans."