Kansas City Royals take World Series - gain redemption for 2014 loss!

.

The Royals stunned the Mets by scoring two runs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings, then devastating the Mets with a five run explosion in the 12th inning.  Just when it looked like there was magic in the air for the Royals, there was.

Here is an exceptional account of the magical run by the Royals by Bob Nightengale from USA Today Sports.

KC Power and Light Mall

Nightengale: Royals find fitting end to World Series title

Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — The Kansas City Royals, their bodies drenched in champagne, and joyful tears in their eyes, had a simple question Sunday for everyone not wearing a uniform, and crashing their celebration.

Ok, now do you believe?

The Royals, who a year ago refused to take a gamble and were left 90 feet away from a World Series championship, this time doubled down, took the riskiest of risks, and seized that 90 feet.

Eric Hosmer’s daring dash for home in the ninth inning will be the defining moment of their World Series championship, stunning the New York Mets, 7-2, in 12 innings, and capturing their first championship in 30 years.

The Royals, the team that refused to go away, defying the greatest odds night after night this postseason, will go down as one of the most relentless teams of this generation.

The way it ended last year, with everything that happened,’’ Hosmer said, “it was such a magical run. You knew it couldn’t end like that. The ending of that story had to be way better than losing Game 7.

“Just to have the opportunity to come back with the same core group of guys, and have another chance to compete for a world championship is special in itself.

“We believed in each other, and we definitely made the most out of the opportunity.

Kansas City Royals, manager Ned Yost

“We refused to quit.’’

Oh, how they were relentless.

Four times the Royals trailed in the eighth inning or later in this World Series, and three times they won.

The Royals had eight comeback victories this postseason, including seven times they trailed by two or more runs, setting another record.

Salvador Perez Named 2015 World Series MVP

They scored 40 runs in the eighth inning or later. No one else produced more than five.

 “They were as determined a group as I’ve ever seen,’’ Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They were going to get back and they were going to finish the deal this time. So from Day 1 there was no doubt in my mind that they wouldn’t accomplish it.

“And the cool thing about this team is everything these guys set out to accomplish, they did.

“They wanted to win the division. They won it by 11 games. They wanted to win home-field advantage for the playoffs. They did.

“They wanted to win the World Series.’’

Yep, they did that too.

This night was the most glorious of all their comebacks, starting in the ninth inning against ace Matt Harvey, when Mets manager Terry Collins had his Grady Little moment. They tied it with a two-out daredevil dash by Eric Hosmer. And won it in the 12th when a guy drafted three spots ahead of Harvey, Christian Colon, gets the go-ahead hit with his first plate appearance of the entire postseason.

“I think we had some angels on our side,’’ said Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, one of three Royals’ players who lost a parent in the last two months. “We knew the only way to get rid of last year’s feeling, was to go out there and finish the deal.’’

Oh, how they did just that.

The Royals were shut out for eight innings. They were losing 2-0. They had only four hits. And just three baserunners since the third inning.

“Harvey pitched unbelievably,’’ Yost said, “but it never entered my mind that we were not going to score two or three runs and take the lead at that point.’’

The sell-out crowd at Citi Field chanting his name, Harvey talked Collins out of pulling him in the dugout, and raced out of the dugout, skipped over the foul line, and took the mound.

“If he'd taken him out,’’ Mets third baseman David Wright said, “he'd have probably needed to fight 44,000 people.”

The joint was jumping, and Harvey again was on the verge of storybook heroics. This would be his Jack Morris moment, adamantly refusing to come out of this game, leading 2-0, with his team facing elimination.

“That’s the thing,’’ Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “Even though Harvey pitched a great game, we wanted him to come out in the ninth. We wanted hm. We didn’t want to face anybody but him.

“That was the mind-set of our team.

“We kept saying, “We’re going to get him. We’re going to knock him out of the game.

“We’re going to knock him out.

“We got him, didn’t we?’’

Cain started it with a walk. Collins thought about taking Harvey out of the game, but decided against it. Hosmer followed by drilled a 94-mph fastball into the left-field corner for a double, scoring Cain.

This time, Collins came out.

One batter too late.

I try not to let the crowd influence me,” Collins said. “I just trusted him. He said, “I want this game. I want it bad. You’ve got to leave me in.’ I said, "You got it. You've earned this. So go get 'em.’;

“So it's my fault. It's not his.’’

Closer Jeurys Familia, who had already blown two saves in the series, entered the game, and induced a grounder by Mike Moustakas, moving Hosmer to third base. Now, with the infield in, Salvador Perez, who made that final out of Game 7 last year, hit a little dribbler fielded by third baseman David Wright.

Wright picked it up clearly, looked back towards Hosmer, and threw to first baseman Lucas Duda for the second out.

The moment Wright threw the ball, Hosmer took off running.

“I just saw his head turn towards first, decided to take another shuffle,’’ Hosmer said, “ and as soon as he went to throw it, I just decided it was a good time to take a chance. It was an opportunity to steal a run.

“But as soon I left, I thought I should turn back. But it was too late.’’

Duda caught the ball, saw Hosmer racing towards home, and threw home. If he makes a good throw, he’s out by 10 feet. A decent throw, he’s out by five feet.

It was an awful throw, the ball sailing five feet past catcher Travis d’Arnaud, tying the game at 2-apiece.

“I would have been shocked if Hos didn’t try that,’’ said Royals baserunning coach Rusty Kuntz. 

“That’s his nature. And we were going to keep doing it until they screwed it up. That’s us.

“It’s all about pressure at this level. How many teams have 20-year-old somethings all over the field?

When you have that, you use what they were gifted with, and that’s energy and speed.

“They use it. And don’t fear failure.’’

And if Hosmer was thrown out?

“We would have done it again in Game 6,’’ Kuntz said. “Look, there’s a handful [of first basemen] that you would do it. And there’s a handful of good first basemen out there. But Duda, bless his heart, he’s a good bat.

“Wide left.’’

Said Duda: “That took some [guts] for him to do that. Down one out, with one out to go, that’s be the third out. But the way they run the bases, you can; be shocked by anything. That’s kind of their game in a nutshell. Put pressure on the defense. They did that the entire series.’’

It was another piece of brilliant intelligence the Royals’ advance scouts provided to the team. They told them that Duda has trouble throwing the ball. And they reminded them that Wright is playing with a sore shoulder, and throws almost side-arm to first base.

“I tell our people all the time,’’ said Royals GM Dayton Moore, praising his scouts, “We’re not smarter than anybody else. We don’t work harder than anybody else. But we have to care more than anybody else.’’

The Royals took full advantage.

Once again.

“And once we tied it,’’ said Alex Gordon, the Royals’ captain, “we knew we had it. It was like, “Here we go again.’ We weren’t going to lose the game. No one can match up with our bullpen."

The Royals’ bullpen, which allowed just one hit and two baserunners the final six innings, suffocated the life out of the Mets’ offense. The Royals’ offense exploded in the 12th inning off Addison Reed, highlighted by Cain’s three-run double, making it the most lopsided extra-inning victory in World Series history.

 “When we scored all of those runs, I went out there in the outfield,’’ said Gordon, their longest-tenured player, “and started looking at all of the fans, all of the smiles, all of the joy. I’ll never forget that moment as long as I live.’’

“It had been so long. It was getting kind of old just seeing the highlights of George [Brett] and Frank [White]. We cherish what they did, but we wanted to make our own memories.’’

Oh, and how they did, reminding everyone that this is a young man’s game. You don’t have to hit the most homers. You don’t need a staff full of 20-game winners. Just put the ball in play on offense, play great defense, and always, but always, stay aggressive.

Now, this same franchise that had 17 losing seasons in 18 years, that lost 100 games three consecutive years, is sitting proudly atop the baseball world once again.

“This is the damndest thing I’ve ever seen,’’ said Hall of Famer George Brett, the franchise’s greatest player. “People in Kansas City are going bonkers over this organisation. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“When we were losing all of those games. I would tell people I never worked for the Royals. Now, I tell everybody. It just means so much to me because I still live here. I played here, and never left.

“Tell me a player who still lives in the city they played in? Nobody. I’m the guy who still lives in Kansas City. Where does Derek Jeter live? Florida. He doesn’t live in New York.

“I’m so proud to say I live in Kansas City.

“These guys, have made us all proud again to be a Royal.’’
.

Spirits in the Sky - Janis Joplin, Charter Member of the 27 Club!

.

From the Gulf Coast of Texas to the San Francisco Underground, Janis Joplin was the Queen of Blues when the Blues came from the Heart and Soul and Life or Death hung in the balance.  It has been forty-five years since Janis died, at just 27 years old, when the world was just beginning to sit up and take notice.  The following is her biography from A&E Network.

Bio. - A&E Network

Janis Joplin Biography

Singer (1943–1970)

Singer Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s and was known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She died of an accidental drug overdose in 1970.

 

Synopsis

Born on January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis Joplin developed a love of music at an early age, but her career didn't take off until she joined the band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1966. Their 1968 album, Cheap Thrills, was a huge hit. However, friction between Joplin and the band prompted her to part ways with Big Brother soon after. Known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals, Joplin released her first solo effort, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, in 1969. The album received mixed reviews, but her second project, Pearl (1971), released after Joplin's death, was a huge success. The singer died of an accidental overdose on October 4, 1970, at age 27.

Wild Child

Janis Lyn Joplin was born on January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas. Breaking new ground for women in rock music, Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s and became known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She grew up in a small Texas town known for its connections to the oil industry with a skyline and dotted with oil tanks and refineries. For years, Joplin struggled to escape from this confining community, and spent even longer to trying to overcome her memories of her difficult years there.

Developing a love for music at an early age, Joplin sang in her church choir as a child and showed some promise as a performer. She was an only child until the age of 6, when her sister, Laura, was born. Four years later, her brother, Michael, arrived. Joplin was a good student and fairly popular until around the age of 14, when some side effects of puberty started to kick in. She got acne and gained some weight.

At Thomas Jefferson High School, Joplin began to rebel. She eschewed the popular girls' fashions of the late 1950s, often choosing to wear men's shirts and tights, or short skirts. Joplin, who liked to stand out from the crowd, became the target of some teasing as well as a popular subject in the school's rumor mill. She was called a "pig" by some, while others said that she was sexually promiscuous.

Joplin eventually developed a group of guy friends who shared her interest in music and the Beat Generation, which rejected the standard norms and emphasized creative expression (Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were two of the Beat movement's leading figures).

Early Musical Interests

Musically, Janis Joplin and her friends gravitated toward blues and jazz, admiring such artists as Lead Belly. Joplin was also inspired by legendary blues vocalists Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Odetta, an early leading figure in the folk music movement. The group frequented local working-class bars in the nearby town of Vinton, Louisiana. By her senior year of high school, Joplin had developed a reputation as a ballsy, tough-talking girl who like to drink and be outrageous.

After graduating from high school, Joplin enrolled at Lamar State College of Technology in the neighboring town of Beaumont, Texas. There, she devoted more time to hanging out and drinking with friends than to her studies. At the end of her first semester at Lamar, Joplin left the school. She went on to attend Port Arthur College, where she took some secretarial courses, before moving to Los Angeles in the summer of 1961. This first effort to break away from wasn't a success, however, and Joplin thus returned to Port Arthur for a time.

In the summer of 1962, Joplin fled to the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied art. In Austin, Joplin began performing at folksings—casual musical gatherings where anyone can perform—on campus and at Threadgill's, a gas station turned bar, with the Waller Creek Boys, a musical trio with whom she was friends. With her forceful, gutsy singing style, Joplin amazed many audience members. She was unlike any other white female vocalist at the time (folk icons like Joan Baez and Judy Collins were known for their gentle sound).

In January 1963, Joplin ditched school to check out the emerging music scene in San Francisco with friend Chet Helms. But this stint out west, like her first, proved to be unsuccessful, as Joplin struggled to make it as a singer in the Bay Area. She played some gigs, including a side-stage performance at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival—but her career didn't gain much traction. Joplin then spent some time in New York City, where she hoped to have better luck getting her career off the ground, but her drinking and drug use (she'd begun regularly using speed, or amphetamine, among other drugs) there proved to be detrimental to her musical aspirations. In 1965, she left San Francisco and returned home in an effort to get herself together again.

Back in Texas, Joplin took a break from her music and her hard-partying lifestyle, and dressed conservatively, putting her long, often messy hair into a bun and doing everything else she could to appear straight-laced. But the conventional life was not for her, and her desire to pursue her musical dreams wouldn't remain submerged for long.

Joplin slowly returned to performing, and in May 1966, was recruited by friend Travis Rivers to audition for a new psychedelic rock band based in San Francisco, Big Brother and the Holding Company. At the time, the group was managed by another longtime friend of Joplin's, Chet Helms. Big Brother, whose members included James Gurley, Dave Getz, Peter Albin and Sam Andrew, was part of the burgeoning San Francisco music scene of the late 1960s; among the other bands involved in this scene were the Grateful Dead.

Big Brother

Joplin blew the band away during her audition, and was quickly offered membership into the group. In her early days with Big Brother, she sang only a few songs and played the tambourine in the background. But it wasn't long before Joplin assumed a bigger role in the band, as Big Brother developed quite a following in the Bay Area. Their appearance at the now legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967—specifically their version of "Ball and Chain" (originally made famous by R&B legend Big Mama Thornton) brought the group further acclaim. Most of the praise, however, focused on Joplin's incredible vocals. Fueled by heroin, amphetamines and the bourbon she drank straight from the bottle during gigs, Joplin's unrestrained sexual style and raw, gutsy sound mesmerized audiences—and all of this attention caused some tension between Joplin and her bandmates.

After hearing Joplin at Monterey, Columbia Records President Clive Davis wanted to sign the band. Albert Grossman, who already managed Bob Dylan, the Band, and Peter, Paul & Mary, later signed on as the band's manager, and was able to get them out of another record deal they'd signed earlier with Mainstream Records.

While their recordings for Mainstream never found much of an audience, Big Brother's first album for Columbia, Cheap Thrills (1968), was a huge hit. While the album was wildly successful—quickly becoming a certified gold record with songs like "Piece of My Heart" and "Summertime"—creating it had been a challenging process, causing even more problems between Joplin and band's other members. (The album was produced by John Simon, who'd had the band do take after take in an attempt to create a technically perfect sound.)

Cheap Thrills helped solidify Joplin's reputation as a unique, dynamic, bluesy rock singer. Despite Big Brother's continued success, Joplin was becoming frustrated with group, feeling that she was being held back professionally.

Solo Career

Joplin struggled with her decision to leave Big Brother, as her bandmates had been like a family to her, but she eventually decided to part ways with the group. She played with Big Brother for the last time in December 1968.

Following a historic performance at Woodstock (August 1969), Joplin released her first solo effort, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, in September 1969, with Kozmic Blues Band. Some of the project's most memorable songs were "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "To Love Somebody," a cover of a Bee Gees tune. But Kozmic Blues received mixed reviews, with some media outlets criticizing Joplin personally. Feeling uniquely pressured to prove herself as a female solo artist in a male-dominated industry, the criticism caused distress for Joplin. "That was a pretty heavy time for me," she later said in an interview with Howard Smith of The Village Voice. "It was really important, you know, whether people were going to accept me or not." (Joplin's interview with Smith was her last; it took place on September 30, 1970, just four days before her death.) Outside of music, Joplin appeared to be struggling with alcohol and drugs, including an addiction to heroin.

Joplin's next album would be her most successful, but, tragically, also her last. She recorded Pearl with the Full Tilt Boogie Band and wrote two of its songs, the powerful, rocking "Move Over" and "Mercedes Benz," a gospel-styled send-up of consumerism.

Tragic Death and Legacy

Following a long struggle with substance abuse, Joplin died from an accidental heroin overdose on October 4, 1970, at a hotel in Hollywood's Landmark Hotel. Completed by Joplin's producer, Pearl was released in 1971 and quickly became a hit. The single "Me and Bobby McGee," written by Kris Kristofferson, a former love of Joplin's, reached the top of the charts.

Despite her untimely death, Janis Joplin's songs continue to attract new fans and inspire performers. Numerous collections of her songs have been released over the years, including In Concert (1971) and Box of Pearls (1999). In recognition of her significant accomplishments, Joplin was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and honored with a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in 2005.

Dubbed the "first lady of rock 'n' roll," Joplin has been the subject of several books and documentaries, including Love, Janis (1992), written by sister Laura Joplin. That book was adapted into a play of the same title. Amy Berg’s documentary, Janis: Little Girl Blue, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2015.
.

Spirits in the Sky - Death - Such a Final Notion - But what if people hadn't died?

The mind is a marvelous thing of somewhat magical qualities because it has the ability to reject any principle like the laws of nature or laws of god and imagine a world without those laws.

You should try it some time.

For example, take the principle of death, what if death could be undone for people.  Then take some of the people who died way to early in life and just imagine what they could have done with a "normal" life span compared to what they did in a tragically shortened life.

Like Jesus for example.  Now JC turned everything in the world upside down for all time and he died at age 33 after preaching just 3 short years.  What if he stuck around preaching until he was 70 which is not all that old anymore?  Then he would have had 37 more years of preaching and imagine what impact that might have had on things.

There might never have been any question of him being the true Messiah and all those various sects and denominations of Christianity might never have existed, sects which led us into 2000 years of warfare, hatred and willingness to ignore the Ten Commandments although Jesus never said there were Ten, just one and then a second.

Singers and composers seem to be targets for early death.  Buddy Holly died at just 22, Hank Williams at 29, Patsy Cline - Jim Croce - Momma Cass Elliot all at 30, Karen Carpenter at 32,  Bob Marley at 36, Harry Chapin at 38, John Lennon at 40 and Elvis at 42.

Holly, Williams, Croce, Marley, Chapin and Lennon were among the greatest song writers of all time and were not even close to reaching their peak in terms of creative output.

Consider the enormous body of work all these gifted artists, singers and songwriters all, generated in their abbreviated lifetimes.  All of them should have lived 28-48 years longer if they lived a normal life meaning we lost out on more than 50% of their potential musical contributions to our history.

Then there is the strange 27 Club, those artists who died at the age of 27, and this includes a host of singers pushing the envelope like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain and the most recent addition Amy Winehouse.

How bizarre is that?  Not a single one died of anything remotely connected to "normal" circumstances.  Some people even speculate they might have subconsciously or even consciously died when they reached that age.  Drugs, booze and prescription drugs all played a role in the deaths.

Let's change fields of entertainment and take movies for example.  James Dean died at 24, when he was just getting started while Marilyn Monroe died at 36, at the peak of her popularity and Natalie Wood died at 43.  Even though Natalie spent her entire life in movies she was just reaching new fans and rebuilding her image.

So how did they die?  A car wreck, drug overdose and drowning, again no natural causes and we were all cheated out of an entire body of work.

Of course in politics there was Bobby Kennedy at 43 and John Kennedy at 46 who along with their friend Martin Luther King, Jr. at 39 all were taken at the beginning of their contributions to America.

And let us never forget the enchanting fairy tale story line of Diana, Princess of Wales, dead at age 36, because of her contributions to the future of royalty in terms of personality and legacy.

Is there a lesson?  Make sure when you are planning your life the way the insurance and finance companies want you to you take the time to enjoy the present as if it were the last days of your life because it just might be.

Actuarial tables suck!

.