Royals Beat Mets In Epic World Series Game With Personal Tragedy And Technical Difficulties

The Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets in one of the most epic World Series games ever broadcast. Fans were not only treated to classic baseball, but there were also technical difficulties with the telecast and tragic personal news for one of the players.

Not many times have fans seen a game such as Game 1 of the World Series, in which the Royals narrowly beat the Mets 5-4, to take a one game lead in the final stage of the season. Very few assigned any chances to either team at the beginning of the season, but the Royals and the Mets gave fans a thrilling performance worth every penny.

This was the New York Mets first World Series in 15 years, and for the Kansas City Royals, it has been even longer — 30 years — since they last won the prized title, the New York Times reports. But on Tuesday night, both teams gave it their all and battled for 14 innings, which saw the Royals beating the Mets to take a crucial lead.

But it wasn’t just the number of innings that was unusual on Monday in a packed house in Kansas City. The odd happenings at the World Series started with news that Royals starter Edinson Volquez’s father died Tuesday in the Dominican Republic just before the game began.

According to ESPN, 63-year-old Daniel Volquez died of complications from heart disease, a family source said. The Kansas City Royals starter reportedly found out about his father’s passing on the bus that was carrying his team to Kauffman Stadium to face the Mets.

Volquez was replaced after he gave up three runs on six hits in six innings of pitching and left the stadium without speaking to reporters. However, in a strange twist, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost gave a different account of what transpired with his player.

Yost said the Royals followed Volquez wife’s wishes when she asked he not be informed of his father’s death until after the game. Yost had a back-up plan, and Chris Young was ready to take the mound if Volquez wasn’t up to pitching in the World Series game.

“We found out about an hour before, and we said, ‘What do you want us to do?’ And the family said, ‘We don’t want you to tell him. We want him to pitch this game.’ We said, ‘If that’s what you want, we’ll do exactly what you want.'”

Yost said that when Volquez was finally relieved in the sixth inning, his wife and children awaited him in the clubhouse. Royals General Manager Dayton Moore allowed the family to meet privately in the manager’s office.

But this was not the strangest thing that happened during the epic World Series opener between the Royals and the Mets. Fox lost power, and the telecast was interrupted in the fourth inning, according to a statement from the network.

“Before the start of the bottom of the fourth inning of tonight’s World Series Game 1, a rare electronics failure caused both the primary and backup generators inside the Fox Sports production compound to lose power. The issue was immediately addressed, although it resulted in the audience missing one at-bat during the time needed to switch to carriage of Major League Baseball’s international feed, powered by a different generator on site.

“The on-field delay was due to replay capability being lost in both teams’ clubhouses. We apologize for the interruption in tonight’s coverage and are working to ensure that the remainder of the World Series is broadcast without incident.”

The World Series telecast interruption not only annoyed those watching at home, but the game had to be stopped because the instant replay wasn’t working. However, Royals manager Ned Yost and Mets manager Terry Collins agreed to continue the game without replay.

Game 1 — which, at 14 innings, ties the record for longest World Series game lasting five hours and nine minutes — not only had personal tragedy and technical difficulties, but a rare inside-the-park home run by Alcides Escobar — the first such occurrence since the 1929 World Series.

The Kansas City Royals and New York Mets face off for Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday night.

[Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images]