Royals fans pour into downtown Lawrence by the hundreds as Kansas City wins World Series

Kansas students hoist a friend above a crowd on Mass. St. after the K.C. Royals World Series win Sunday night.

Almost exactly 30 years ago, David Lassley was still in his mother’s womb and didn’t get to watch Kansas City take the crown in 1985.

But Sunday night, things were different. The Wichita-born lifelong fan of the Royals, Chiefs and Kansas University Jayhawks was anything but speechless after the New York Mets’ final batter struck out in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series.

“Nobody expected us to do this. Even when the season started, we were picked third,” Lassley said.

Shortly after the Royals’ victory, a sea of fans — numbering well into the hundreds — poured out of the bars and onto Massachusetts Street for a spontaneous block party/victory celebration.

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“We’re a team, and that’s why we won,” Lassley said. “It’s just so unbelievable to see a great group of guys win a Series not only for themselves, but for Kansas City and for the metro area, and for everyone who’s been a Royals fan their entire lives. We’ve waited for this for 30 years.”

Karl Kollmeier was passing through Kansas on his way from California back home to Venice, Fla. He had stopped in to Free State Brewing Co., where a crowd of about 50 Royals fans was allowed to stay half an hour past closing time.

“I didn’t know it was gonna happen, but it’s wonderful,” Kollmeier said. “It was a great game, and it’s wonderful to be here in Kansas, and in Lawrence. I love it.”

For Lassley — who may or may not go viral in a YouTube video shot when he leapt onto the stairs inside the bar, leading the crowd in victory cheering — the three-decade wait was well worth it.

“You have to have patience and let the championship team build,” he said.