The World Series Game 1 game thread: Mets @ Royals

At most, there are seven baseball games remaining this year. There could be as few as four. Prepare yourselves for the long, cold winter. As the Starks like to remind us, it is coming. Although as far as that goes, I guess (spoiler removed).

Did you know that these two teams will open up the 2016 season against one another, in Kansas City? That's no joke. Year-round interleague is pretty weird as it is, but the two World Series teams meeting up to start the next season will also be a strange one. But there's a whole series to be played first, and each team could be a little different next time. After all, there are always pending free agents and moves to be made.

So this is it. This is their shot. The same shot that the Orioles have not had even once in my lifetime, which kind of make me hate all of the other teams who have had a shot. Especially the Royals, for obvious reasons. There is no Orioles-Mets grudge in my lifetime, so despite my general preference for American League teams - one of the worst things about being a baseball fan is when you have to endure NL team fans acting like they watch, and their favorite team plays, real baseball - I am all on board for the Mets train this next week and a half.

As I write these words about an hour before the scheduled first pitch, the tarp is still on the field. Never a good sign, but maybe that will change and we can get something resembling an on-time beginning. Baseball never does seem to have much concern for the people who can't stay up to watch the entirety of its marquee contests.