It’s a question that could haunt Kansas City Royals’ fans for years: Should outfielder Alex Gordon have gone for an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the ninth of the team’s Game 7 loss to the San Francisco Giants?
A certain White House press secretary — and die-hard Royals fan — would have liked to have seen it.
“It would have gone down as one of the most exciting plays in the history of baseball,” White House Press secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday aboard Air Force One, reflecting on the team’s first playoff appearance in nearly three decades.
The Royals’ third base coach held Gordon in a 3-2 game. Giants ace Madison Bumgarner then recorded the final out, keeping the tying run 90 feet away.
From behind the While House podium, Earnest has repeatedly trumpeted the Royals’ unexpected success in the MLB playoffs.
He even risked jinxing the perennial loser by telling reporters ahead of Game 7, “I think that they are on such a roll that there is nothing I could say from here that’s going to impact their performance tonight.”
Oops.
In fairness to Earnest, Bumgarner was clearly jinx-proof, delivering a historic pitching performance throughout the World Series.
And as Earnest reminded the White House press corps, pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just over 100 days.
