Kansas City Royals: Growing Up Before Our Eyes

Kansas City Royals mascot Sluggerrr Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals have the longest active postseason drought among the 4 major North American sports at 28 years and counting. While 28 years is nowhere close to a record, (the Chicago Cubs own most of those), no professional sports team in recent memory, has become as synonymous with futility in the public mind as have our boys in blue.

However, after having been a punchline in countless movies and Tonight Show monologues, it would seem there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

The Royals are in first place with 33 games left to play and they currently hold a 2-game lead over second place Detroit for the division title. While it is by no means a sure bet that they Royals will make the post-season, they would appear to be in a good position to do so, particularly given the strength of their remaining schedule.

The Royals are in first place with 33 games left to play

Some in the media have cited the fact that this Royals team is still ripe to disappoint the faithful as their numbers reflect a team still suffering from the same maladies as last season, primarily a lack of consistent offensive firepower. But what these national pundits seem to be lacking is some true insight into the character of this team.

I’ve been a Royals fan for about 30 years now and I can’t remember having seen a team as apparently limited as this Royals squad is offensively, that finds so many ways to win games.

Even with a precipitous decline in the number of one-run wins this season, particularly when compared to last season (from 31 in 2013 to only 17 currently), this team seems to find new heroes nearly every night.