By Savannah Malnar

The year was 1985, and the Kansas City Royals were World Series Champions, but hope for another title had all but disappeared for the next few decades. Up until this season, the Royals had not been seen in the postseason since that Game 7 win. That’s a drought of 29 years.

They’re back now with a vengeance, and the media is loving it. Articles about this team without the author referencing the Royal’s energy and confidence are nearly non-existent.

Everyone wants to analyze this playoff run. Ever since they took out the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game, they’ve been unstoppable. They have won all of their postseason games to date. They swept the Los Angeles Angels, a World Series favorite. They have seven home-runs in the postseason, which is the same amount they had in their final 23 games in the regular season. But why? What’s the cause?

The media seems to insist it’s because of, surprisingly, their inexperience. These “kids” are so excited to just be in the postseason that the pressure isn’t getting to them. The Royals’ designated hitter, Billy Butler, is quoted by ESPN saying: “I’ve always heard the veterans with postseason experience always have the advantage because they know what to expect. That hasn’t been the case, I can’t put my finger on why. Hey, it’s my first experience.”

One thing is for sure though; despite the cause, the Royals are becoming a media and fan favorite for this MLB postseason. The Huffington Post dedicated an article to 27 reasons the Royals are becoming America’s new favorite team, and even the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “It’s Official: The Kansas City Royals Can’t Lose.”

While this is definitely the feel-good story of the season, is it right for the media to be covering them so subjectively? Many of the articles about the Royals playoff run don’t reference their opposition. There are unanswered questions in a lot of these articles; maybe it was the Athletics’ pitching that really was the reason the Royals won the Wild Card game. There were most likely factors outside of the Royals themselves that could be contributed to their sweep of the Angels.

Whether the media is right in this or not, they are definitely creating new fans of the Royals with all of the hype. This is a postseason run that will be remembered by baseball fans all across the country, not just in Kansas City.