Carroll hopes to help White Sox spoil Royals' playoff chances
Scott Carroll remembers when his hometown Kansas City Royals last won the World Series. Well, sort of.
"I was 1 year old," Carroll said. "It's been a while since they've won a World Series. And they've really been in a drought when it comes to the playoffs."
Now a starting pitcher for the White Sox approaching his 30th birthday (Sept. 24), Carroll still makes Kansas City his home in the off-season, and he is still a Royals fan.
"I was always playing something, so I didn't go to a whole lot of games at Kauffman Stadium," Carroll said. "But I was a huge fan when I was little and I grew up watching guys like George Brett, Bo Jackson and Dan Quisenberry. It's been a long time since they were really competitive so it's nice to see them doing so well this season."
Ironically, Carroll and the Sox are going to have a big say in determining if the Royals make it back to the postseason for the first time since '85.
Monday night's game at Kansas City was the first of seven meetings between the teams over the final two weeks of the regular season.
"I'm looking at it as an opportunity to ruin somebody else's chances, even if it is the Royals," Carroll said. "I love that ballpark and they're a really good story. They're a small-market team and they haven't been to the playoffs in such a long time. They've got a good team, but I'm looking forward to helping keep them out of the playoffs."
Kansas City was running first in the AL Central from Aug. 11 through Sept. 8, and again on Sept. 10-11, but the Royals have dropped into second place and are trying to secure a wild-card berth at the very least.
With only seven winning seasons since 1985, what has changed this year?
"They're a good team," Carroll said. "I think a big thing was the trade they made last year, getting (James) Shields and (Wade) Davis from Tampa Bay for (Wil) Meyers. That trade really panned out for them. Davis has been lights out and Shields is having another great year like he usually has. The pitching is a lot better and they've always been able to pick it and play good defense."
The White Sox have been playing very good baseball the last week or so, and they'll have a chance to be spoilers against the Royals and Tigers as the end of the regular season nears.
"There is an integrity that you have to the game, you play to win," Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "Do you do it at a risk of your own players? No. You still have the integrity to go out and play and our guys will do that. They will go out and play and try to win every game. They will play hard on this road trip (to Kansas City, Tampa Bay and Detroit) and those other teams will have to beat you to get in. Nobody's laying down."