The Kansas City Royals are in the MLB playoffs for the first time since George Brett was an all-star caliber player for them.
Kansas City clinched a playoff spot Friday night for the first time in 29 years, beating the Chicago White Sox 3-1 behind seven scoreless innings from Jeremy Guthrie.
The Royals secured at least a wild card spot and ended the longest active postseason drought among the major North American sports leagues. The last time the Royals made it to the playoffs, Brett led them to a World Series victory over the Cardinals in 1985.
Brett was even on hand himself, with a bottle of Champagne all ready to go as the game came to a climax.
“I got tired of the people criticizing the players on this team because they hadn’t won a World Series since 1985,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of these … guys weren’t even born in ’85. It’s not their fault. These guys played their [butts] off all year.”