Too many years missing a World Series? Call in the Dominicans. What happened with Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz for the Boston Red Sox in 2004 has happened again for the Kansas City Royals in 2015.
The Kansas City Royals were the first to use three pitchers born outside the United States (Dominicans Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura) to start their first three games. Volquez would repeat pitching on the championship winning day.
And then, on Sunday, 1 November 2015, after a 30-year drought, the Kansas City Royals would beat the New York Mets 7-2 in 12 innings, with a two-run ninth inning and a five-run eruption in the 12th.
The media focused on Dominican Edison Volquez’s contribution in the pennant-winning game. It was a memorable series with a dramatic finish. Royals’ pitcher Edinson Volquez was scheduled to pitch on game 1 and game 5. Then his father died prior to the start of game 1 on Tuesday, and it was unclear whether he would be able to pitch on Sunday, for game 5. Greatness happened and Volquez would pave the way for the Royals to capture the World Series in only five games. In his six innings, Volquez only allowed two runs.
The Kansas City Star reported: “But what Volquez summoned was a poignant performance beyond what anyone could have imagined, the sort of thing that might have been rejected by Hollywood for being too fantastic. ”
Volquez was even inspired to hit a single that is now in record books as the first hit by a pitcher in Royals’ postseason history.
Two other Latin Americans were key to the Royals’ victory. They were 26-year old Puerto Rican infielder Christian Colon who shot a slider out to left that brought home the tiebreaking run in the 12th inning, and the World Series Most Valuable Player catcher Salvador Perez from Venezuela.
Read more:
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article42181098.html
http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_29051618/royals-rotation-three-dominican-republic-starters-share-bond
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article42184143.html
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/156205900/royals-win-world-series