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Angels didn’t have a prayer against Sung Woo Karma

October 6, 2014

Hank Conger’s first postseason ends with just one pinch-hit appearance as the Angels get swept by the Royals in ALDS.

A Kansas City Royals fan celebrates with a broom during the sixth inning of Game 3 of baseball’s AL Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

In a wildly unexpected American League Division Series (ALDS), the Kansas City Royals took out their brooms and swept the Los Angeles Angels all the way back to the west coast.

Hank “Choi Hyun” Conger got the his first-career postseason at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning as the Angels trailed five runs in a deciding game.

What resulted were a few tentative swings and a strikeout.

It’s hard to blame Conger when Manager Mike Scioscia refuses to give him regular playing time. Conger has been stuck in a platoon system with Chris Iannetta, only playing against the right-handers, but in Game 2 and 3 of the ALDS, he was even denied of that opportunity as Scioscia decided to go with Iannetta against the right-handers Yordano Ventura and James Shields.

Iannetta, a 0.240 hitter against the right-handers this season, went 0-7 in Game 2 and 3 combined.

The Royals comfortably advanced to the American League Championship Series and will face the Baltimore Orioles, who also swept the Detroit Tigers.

Kansas City last saw the playoffs 29 years ago and in that postseason, the team went on to win the 1985 World Series.

Is that possibly what might be happening in 2014?

Ever since Sung Woo Lee touched the Kansas City soil, some kind of magic was born and it stayed even when he left. The Royals’ offense is coming alive and the rest of their game is falling into place.

If the Royals continue to peak, they just might find themselves as the main characters of a storybook ending.

The ALCS is set to start on Oct.10 at Baltimore’s Camden Yards.