My favorite memory of the 2014 Wild Card Game between the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletics is not, in fact, Salvador Perez’s game-winning single past an outstretched Josh Donaldson in the bottom of the 12th inning. Rather, my favorite moment came much earlier—on the first pitch of the game. James Shields took the mound in the top of the first inning and fired a fastball to Coco Crisp, who watched it go by.
It was a strike. The stadium, already in the midst of a “Let’s Go Royals” chant, erupted in a cheer that I didn’t know Kauffman Stadium could make.