I figured I would drop a quick blog post before the NBA season officially begins for the Portland Trail Blazers next Wednesday (but who’s counting).

I probably should have posted something about this team earlier on, but I was literally in shock in what I was watching. Can we talk about the Kansas City Royals for a minute? As I am writing this, the Royals have just evened up the World Series at one game a piece against the San Francisco Giants. Let me say that again, THE WORLD SERIES!

I’ll be honest with you folks. When the Royals made the wild card game, I did not think they were going to go far. I do not think a lot of people did. I was thinking that they might beat the Oakland Athletics, but definitely not the Los Angeles Angels. When you look at their style of play and how they tend to win ballgames, it is through small ball, pitching, and defense. As a Mariners fan, I have been hearing about that strategy for years, but I never took it seriously. I did not think it would actually work.

I was in this perpetual state of “that was impressive, but can they really beat X team?”. I was not a believer. Why should I be? If you look at their regular season stats, their home run (HR) numbers are laughable. Besides Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas who had 19, 17 and 15 HRs respectively, no one on this squad had over ten HRs. That includes Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain who have become heroes in Kansas City this season. The highest RBI total on the team was from Alex Gordon with 74. This team does not win it with the bats. Well, then how do they win? Well, one of their main weapons is speed. During the regular season the Royals totaled 153 stolen bases. Furthermore, we have seen during this postseason craziness like their number three hitter, Lorenzo Cain, laying down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner over. Either head coach Ned Yost is crazy or a genius, maybe a little of both. How many times have we seen this postseason Billy Butler getting a hit and then promptly getting a pinch runner in Jarrod Dyson or Terrance Gore? Furthermore, how many times have we seen that usually pay off? Hint: a lot. People just do not see this kind of stuff happen very often.

Is also helps that the Royals have the best bullpen for a postseason run. Three names, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, essentially the three-headed hydra.  The Royals starting pitching is not the greatest, but they really only need to get to six innings. Herrera comes in a throws the seventh, Davis the eighth and then Holland closes it out. Sounds simple and too easy? That’s because it is. Herrara sported a 1.41 ERA during the regular season and currently has a 0.90 ERA in the postseason. Davis had a 1.00 ERA in 71 games during the regular season and has a 0.87 ERA in the postseason. Finally, Holland had a 1.44 ERA in 65 games in the regular season and has a 1.00 ERA in the postse- you get the picture. These guys are damn good and Yost is spoiled. It is the same script every game it seems, however, it continues to dominate. Hitters cannot figure these three pitchers out. Just ask the Angels, who had a dominant offense. Just ask the Orioles, who witnessed first-hand how good their bullpen really is by giving them no chance to score any runs.

Keep in mind, this is with having their ace James Shields have a 7.11 ERA in the postseason. This is with the 23-year old up-and-comer Yordano Ventura having a 4.42 ERA in the postseason. The Royals swept through the playoffs and made it look extremely easy. I think back to the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS in the mid-00’s that were bloodbaths and seemed to take years to get through a seven-game series. I remember the Mariners-Yankees series that seemed to never end. I remember seeing a high-powered offense combined with shocking pitching struggle to beat a team. The Royals decided to skip all of that. Who needs powerful hitting? Obviously, that did not work out for the Angels as the Trout-Pujols-Hendrick combination collapsed as they combined going 5-for-37. Just ask the Orioles who had a team-wide .217 batting average in the ALCS.

Who needs big names? The biggest name before the playoffs on their roster was James Shields. Sure, they got Omar Infante in the offseason, but really where are the big-name players? There weren’t any. Billy Butler and Alex Gordon had been there, but you never really put them in the big-name category. Now, Cain and Hosmer are going to become big names. Even guys like Moustakas will get recognition.

I am still in shock, yes. However, the way they play baseball and the way they are getting it done with the clutch home runs, hits, steals, defensive gems and extra-inning magic is impressive. Again, they are playing the same lineup, using the same bullpen rotation and the same strategies every game, yet the outcome never changes. I am a believer now.

The Royals are on a magical run and they are only three games away from completing an insane ride. After not being in the playoffs for 29 years, they decide to experience it all on their first trip back. The most astonishing thing about this run is they were down four runs in the sixth inning against the Athletics in the wild card game. The baseball gods sure have a favorite this year.