2,014 reasons to watch the 2014 World Series

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Not that anyone needs excess motivation to watch the intriguing matchup between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants for baseball’s championship, but just in case, here are 2,014 reasons to watch the 2014 World Series.

1-29: For the 29 years since Kansas City’s last championship. Or playoff appearance. Or relevance. The Royals are a great story because of their spectacular run in October, sure, though seeing it through the lens of nearly three decades of ineptitude only heightens the stakes for a city ready to burst at the seams with excitement.

30-52: For the 23 days between the Royals’ last loss and Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday at 8:07 p.m. ET. It was a 5-4 defeat to the Chicago White Sox.

53-60: For the eight consecutive wins the Royals have posted this postseason, the most ever to start a playoff run. They haven’t lost a playoff game since Oct. 23, 1985.

61-252: For the .192 batting average Giants pitchers have held opponents to during their 10 postseason games this year. It’s lower than the average of their brilliant World Series-winning staffs of 2010 and 2012. The .252 on-base percentage from the Pirates, Nationals and Cardinals is better than ’10 and ’12, too, though the .322 slugging percentage against – the Giants have been homer-prone this postseason – fares worse.

253-255: For the number of times Hunter Pence yells, “YES!”

256-335: For the 80-grade hair on Brandon Crawford’s head. The baseball scouting scale runs from 20 to 80. If we could give a 90 for Crawford’s coif, we would, but in lieu of breaking a long-established grading curve, 80 must suffice.

336-338.9: For the 3.9 seconds it takes for Terrance Gore to run from home plate to first base. Chances are Gore won’t ever get a chance to bat, of course, with his baseball’s-best speed reserved for stolen-base opportunities. Whatever the case, Gore running is well worth watching.

339-340.7: For Salvador Perez’s 1.8 pop time. That’s the number of seconds that elapses between a catcher receiving the ball and his throw to second base slapping into the middle infielder’s glove on a stolen-base attempt. Not that the Giants are distinct base-stealing threats, but Perez’s arm is likely to dissuade them from even trying.

340.8-360.21: For the 20.51 seconds it took Travis Ishikawa to round the bases after hitting his pennant-winning home run. After flying around the bases and getting to second around the nine-second mark, Ishikawa almost got tackled before he made it to third and punctuated the trot with a helmet slam as he rounded the base. After almost quitting baseball, he is one of the best stories of the postseason, and the World Series gives him a chance to make it even better.

360.22-386.01: For the 25.8-inch circumference of Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s head. He wears a size 8 ¼ cap. Existential question: Would you rather have a million dollars or Bruce Bochy’s head full of nickels?

386.02-545.67: For the 159 2/3 innings Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera have thrown this season without giving up a home run. Add in closer Greg Holland, the third of the Royals’ Nastier Boys, and it’s three homers in 230 innings, along with 288 strikeouts and just 78 walks.

545.68-620.47: For the Royals’ 74.8 runs generated on defense, according to FanGraphs’ metrics. That translates to more than seven wins from fielding alone, nearly two wins more than the next-best team in baseball this season. Whether it’s the incredible Lorenzo Cain in center field, Alex Gordon in left or a panoply of others, the Royals’ gloves are well worth watching.

620.48-720.33: For the 99.86 percent chance Billy Butler will not steal another base this postseason. His theft in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels was his first in more than two years, and unless Buster Posey falls asleep behind the plate, Country Breakfast will go station-to-station per usual.

720.34-752: For the 31 2/3 innings of splendor Madison Bumgarner has turned in this postseason. He’s a true ace, and the 25-year-old’s October success over three tries is hard to quibble with: a 2.67 career postseason ERA that drops to a 1.42 ERA this postseason.

753-772: For the 20 feet or so of depth in McCovey Cove, which will fight with Kauffman Stadium’s own water display for the most beautiful display of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom this postseason.

773: For rookie Joe Panik’s one strikeout in 46 postseason at-bats. Lance Lynn in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the NLCS, in case you were wondering.

774: For the boat Jake Peavy must buy if the Giants win the World Series. He purchased the Duck Boat he rode around Boston after the Red Sox’s championship last year. Surely he’d get a pontoon to troll around McCovey Cove if San Francisco wins this time around.

775: For the smoke machine that pulses in the Royals’ home clubhouse following victories. Bubble machine for home runs? Played out. The Royals prefer to put the club in clubhouse.

776-870: For the 95 home runs the Royals hit during the regular season. That was the lowest in baseball, as were the Royals’ 380 walks. Kansas City’s eight postseason homers and 30 walks far exceed its season averages.

871-1,192: For the 322 feet of fountains that line the outfield. The fountains-or-McCovey Cove question may be as difficult to answer as Royals or Giants.

1,193: For the Fountain Mom. Just watch and enjoy.

1,194-1,275: For the 82 feet Cain bolted to track down J.J. Hardy’s shot to center in the ALCS. It was as athletic a play as you’ll see this postseason – and par for the course with the Royals’ dynamic center fielder.

1,276-1,350: For the 75 percent chance Jarrod Dyson runs on the basepaths. He and Gore provide a keen 1-2 punch Yost has deployed with aplomb in the late innings.

1,351-1,450: For the 100 percent chance Dyson runs his mouth. He may well be the best talker in baseball, and the postseason has proven fertile for his hot takes.

1,451-1,466: For the 16 beeps needed to make a Pence speech fit for broadcast. While he may not be appropriate for church, The Rev. Pence suits a baseball clubhouse just fine, thank you very much.

1,467-1,512: For the 46 consecutive batters Giants long man Yusmeiro Petit retired earlier this season, a major league record. Spread across eight games, Petit’s streak was the exclamation point on his reclamation project. Should a Giants starter falter, they’ll call on Petit, and he’ll look to continue a nine-inning scoreless streak he’s carried this October.

1,513-1,518: For the six earned runs the Giants used to beat the Nationals in four games. San Francisco scored just nine runs in the NLDS – same as Washington – and still managed to cruise to a 3-1 series victory. The Giants’ last five years, in a nutshell.

1,519-1,607: For the 89 mph Giants reliever Sergio Romo’s fastball cruised across the plate to catch Miguel Cabera looking for the final out of the 2012 World Series. It remains one of the gutsiest pitches thrown in the last decade and still brings a smile to the face of Romo, now the Giants’ eighth-inning guy in a bullpen deeper than, if not as dominant as, the Royals’

1,608-1,628: For the 21 years Royals left-hander Brandon Finnegan has lived. Earlier this summer, he was pitching in the College World Series. Now, after the Royals chose him in the first round of the draft and fast-tracked him to the big leagues, he’s pitching in a World Series with no modifiers. He’ll be called on to get out the Giants’ lefties, particularly those at the bottom of the order: Brandon Belt, Travis Ishikawa and Brandon Crawford.

1,629-1,634: For five videos of Gordon crashing into walls, all of which are must-sees so it isn’t a huge shock when he does it again.

1,635-1,649: For the 15 seconds an Instagram video – the specialty of Perez – can last. In his videos, Perez annoys the ever-living crap out of Cain. They are a distinct pleasure, and he updates them almost daily on his account.

1,650-1,662: For the 13 seconds of pain that constitute this video of Pablo Sandoval – once a catcher – getting trucked in the minor leagues. The collision rule exists because of Posey’s gruesome injury trying to block the plate. Though the hit on Sandoval didn’t do as much damage, it was unquestionably even harder.

1,663-1,907: For the listed 245 pounds Sandoval carries around. It’s probably more, but who cares? The hyperathletic fat guy is one of the joys of sports, and Sandoval is baseball’s version, a swing-at-anything contact maniac who sports game-changing power from both sides of the plate.

1,908-1,949: For the 42 percent chance the cameras catch Giants reliever Jean Machi doing this again.

1,950-1,962: For the 13 singles from Posey this postseason. He’s hitting .302. He’s also slugging .302. Yes, the Giants’ best hitter doesn’t have an extra-base hit in 43 at-bats, which could mean Kansas City is catching a huge break on account of a full season having beaten him down … or the Royals are in trouble, because Posey doesn’t stay cold for long.

1,963: For the absence of the one after Fox Sports. Baseball is back on broadcast television. Where it belongs.

1,964-2,013: For the 50 states that have purchased Royals gear this postseason, showing their wide appeal, the size of the Missouri/Kansas diaspora or perhaps both. Since the playoffs began, the Royals are the hottest-selling team on Fanatics.com, and the website reports Royals merchandise sales spiked 1,000 percent after clinching the pennant, as opposed to 350 percent for the Giants. The exorcism of 29 years of sporting awfulness, apparently, has just as profound an effect on the willingness to wield a credit card.

2,014: For the one and only Ned Yost, the Royals manager who bungled his way through the regular season only to manage this postseason like he’s not a tactical buffoon. Yost’s use of the Royals’ bullpen has been spectacular, his predilection to bunt has been limited to times when it sort of makes sense, and he’s topped Oakland’s Bob Melvin, Los Angeles’ Mike Scioscia and Baltimore’s Buck Showalter. Take down Bochy, and that’s one of the most impressive quartets of managers out there, all potentially done in by someone whose had so many calls for his head you’d think the Marquis de Sade were a Royals fan.

More World Series coverage: