MLB’s Best Forgotten Rivalry: Yankees vs. Royals

32 comments

1. Reply which forgotten rivalry you want to see next!

2. Pilots???

3. Here after game 1 of the ALDS that just so happens to be Yanks vs Royals. GO YANKEES!

4. Yanks kc are not a rivalry,yanks sox are.theyre the second team in kc

5. Great video brotha, you definitely earned a sub! I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. It was a well researched, high-quality video. HOWEVER, I am going to have to disagree with you on 1 thing! A pretty major component of your video actually.

   That was referring to what was essentially just a few years of bad blood and fireworks a “rivalry”, or a “forgotten rivalry”. Calling this a rivalry is borderline disrespectful to the knock-down-drag-out, battle to the DEATH type rivalries we’ve been blessed to see as fans across America’s “Big-Four” professional sports leagues.

   To me, TRUE rivalries have to at least meet the majority of a particular set of criteria.

   1. A compelling origin story. Something that kicks the rivalry off. This can be a MILLION different things. It doesn’t even have to be tangible or consequential. Something that grabs ahold of the players, which in turn grabs ahold of the fans.

   2. Familiarity, which is why the GREATEST sports rivalries are almost always between teams from within the same division.

   3. Evenly matched season, and postseason success from both teams in the rivalry, during said rivalry years. It doesn’t have to be 50-50, but also can’t be completely lopsided in 1 team’s favor.

   4. Dominance by both teams at some point during the rivalry years, or shared dominance. Taking turns being the better team. A rivalry can’t be if 1 of the teams never wins anything substantive during the rivalry.

   5. Winning championships for both teams after beating each other in the postseason.

   6. Fuel to the fire. After the event that started the rivalry, things/reasons that reignite or keep the flame lit for a long period of time. 5 years is barely long enough to establish a rivalry, let alone start and finish one.

   This isn’t a rivalry because it’s missing a lot of those elements, the most important of which is how lopsided the results were. The Yankees literally 3-peated against the Royals in the ALCS, and went on to win 2 of those 3 World Series. The 1 time the Royals beat the Yankees, they LOST the World Series in 6 games. So it’s hard for me to recognize it as a rivalry.

6. Zack Hample forever

7. Now it’s coming back in the playoffs

8. Phillies – dodgers
   met in 77, 78 and 83

   the again in 2008 and 2009

9. Oh, we haven’t forgotten anything. FUCK THE ROYALS!

10. Rivalry renewed in 2024!

11. Great documentary but I just wanted to point out in 1980 Billy Martin was manager of the Oakland A’s. Dick Howser was manager of the Yankees. So he had nothing to do with George Brett not getting a fastball in that series

12. I was at that game and sitting in the upper deck on the right field side we started going down in the top of the 9th while the Yanks were up 6-3 when we were going down the the stadium got silent because Brett tied it up soon as we got to the lower deck Chamblis won the game with the Homer and we went on the field it was a memory I will never forget unfortunately they were no match for the Big Red Machine!

13. The fights they had George breet gets kicked in the face and slugs Craig nettles they had a hatred rivarly from 1976-1977 1978 and finally Royals swept them in 1980 and went to a world series vs Phillies.

14. It's October 2024 and the Yankees and Royals are tied 1 each in the ALCS with the Royals going home for game 3. I'm a New Yorker and formerly lived in KC. This is the real deal. Great video.

15. This was an amazing doc.. Well done and thank you!

16. Terrific vid! Could use a little work in the vocal delivery (could be smoother), but COMPLETELY spot on in terms of how great–how HEATED–this rivalry was at the time. A time that happened to coincide with my most intense baseball appreciation and while still living in my childhood Bronx home 4 blocks from the Stadium! WOW, but those were fun years! Thanks for this! 👍

17. My dad told me about how ruthless George Brett was, I wish we could go back to 70s and 80s baseball

18. Nettles didnt hit brett in the face, he stright up kicked him.

19. Excellent documentary!!

20. Nice job. It must be said though that Billy Martin was not fired in 1978. He did in fact beat them to the punch and resigned on July 24th.

21. i can remember Lou Panellia yelling at Larry Gura "throw the ball like a man"😂

22. 1977 game 5 in the ALCS was huge – sorry George you lose again!

23. People think modern NFL or NBA teams have beef, the Yankees and Royals had more fights in the '70s and '80s than anyone save maybe for Boston.

24. Oh the Good Ole days! when more African American males played in the MLB! What happened?

25. This was when men played sports, not soft whining babies.

26. Not forgotten by those of us who witnessed it. As a Yankees fan I hated the Royals they were a tough hard nosed team just like those Yankees teams were. There was true dislike on both sides .

27. George Brett was my fav player – always great!

28. Was trying to find the game the Yankee fans trashed right field during a playoff game.
    Part way in I'm thinking it may have happened right before that Chambliss, game 5 home run in 76.

29. Forgotten ?
    By whom ?

30. I lived in ohio at that time and the reds and dogders were the big rival but i enjoyed whaching ny and kc

31. I liked the Yankers when Horace Clarke was their best player.

32. Best Rivalry In Best