There is an expression In the TV business for something producers try always to avoid. It happens when you see a talking head moving his lips on screen, but don’t hear him.
It’s called lip flap. Your mouth keeps moving, but nothing comes out. And such was the case with the Kansas City Royals in Game 3 of a Fall Classic that may now be turning into a classic.
When Noah Syndergaard came way up and just a bit inside to Alcides Escobar with the very first World Series pitch ever thrown at Cit Field, it incited a firestorm of profanity-laced macho epithets from the safety of the visiting dugout, led by one particularly unpleasant fellow named Mike Moustakas.
And then, as they kept on barking… nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean talk is cheap, actions are expensive, nothing. And the Royals, presented with a game’s worth of opportunities to retaliate for what they protested about bitterly after the game – in the safety of their clubhouse – never came after Thor or any other Met.
You might argue that those six hits off Thor over the first two innings represented retaliation, but half of those hits were the kind of dinks and doinks the Royals have lived on this month.
Syndergaard came up in the 2nd inning with the Royals ahead. The Royals could easily have sent the same message as Thor… Could have easily buzzed him up and in, or done so in his second at bat. Nothing. They could have brushed back the captain after he went deep and then drove in two more with a line drive single through the box. Nothing. They could have buzzed the other guy who was a thorn in their side, Curtis Granderson. Nothing.
And they certainly could have taken remedial action once the game was out of reach. But again, nothing.
Keep also in mind that the Royals starter, young Yordano Ventura, is well known to be a hot-head, a guy who likes to mix it up and provoke the opponent. But nothing from him either.
All bark, no bite.
The question at this point is whether cool heads somehow prevailed in a hot KC dugout… or if the Royals are simply full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Either way, we all know that first pitch of the game immediately changed the tenor of this first ever World Series at Citi Field. The message was clear… You’re not coming into our house and getting comfortable at the plate like in the last couple of games. And the Royals responded only with fighting words from their twin sanctuaries, the dugout and clubhouse.
Here’s hoping that the Amazins led by starter Steven Matz – and the Royals – display the same actions and inaction in Game 4 as they did last night, en route to another lopsided win for our Mets.
