2015 KC Royals: The Phenomenal Story of an Underdog 

Thank you all for a great year, happy new year!

I'm a KC native. My dad grew up an A's fan in the 60's. In 1969, he stayed awake in bed listening to the Royals win their very first game on a radio hidden under his pillow. The game was a walk-off against the Twins in 12 innings, and he could barely contain his excitement. Naturally, he made sure I was a Royals fan too and we went to hundreds of games together when I was growing up in the 90's, even though we didn't have a lot to cheer about. Once, we left a game early against the Yankees, only to hear on the radio driving back home that Mariano Rivera blew a save and the Royals won. He looked at me then and said "we must never tell anyone that we left early." I turned from a teenager into a young man, life took some turns and we drifted apart. In 2014, we were able to bond again thanks to this team. We went to as many games as we could in 2015, using the laid back nature of the game to laugh and share stories and high five like excited kids when the Royals scored a run. I was standing next to him when Matt Harvey bullied Terry Collins into letting him finish game 5, we saw him sprinting out the dugout and he said "He's too amped, he's gonna lose it." Which he did, and we went to the parade together on a unbelievably beautiful November day. I treasure those memories, because I know there will be a day I won't have him around anymore and the 2015 Kansas City Royals will make me cry tears of joy for the rest of my life. Sometimes baseball is a lot more than just a game. Thanks for making this video.

As a Dodgers fan this was one of my favorite teams of all time. Underdogs overcoming everything and beating all of the odds. No Royals were “superstars” just pure “gotta get my jersey dirty” ballplayers. Playing small ball and stealing bases while getting timely hits was so fun to watch which sounds weird nowadays but this Royals team made it look cool.

Ventura passing away signaled the end of an era in retrospect. I would also add that the 2012 All Star Game showed that the city was ready for baseball to come alive. The first time in ages that the city rallied was to boo Cano. Which has never ended.

As a royals fan I really appreciate u making this video they don’t get enough love

The 2014-15 Royals had the best 3 headed monster of relievers ever. If the Royals had a lead in the 7th it was over.

This will forever be my favorite sports team of all time. The best way to describe them came from Johnny Gomes' speech at the championship parade. "Cy Young Winner: not on our team, beat him. Rookie of the Year: not on our team, we beat him. MVP of the whole league: sorry guys, not on our team, but we beat that guy too." This team was out to stick it to everybody, were out to do their dang thing, and were out to send a message to everyone, everywhere: we're Kansas City, and it's our time. Great video, man.

As an A's fan, it never hurts any less when the 2014 Wild Card game is brought up.

I knew that the Royals were an extremely caring organization in terms of taking care of their talent, but it makes sense considering how Ewing Kauffman treated the prospects in his academy. The Royals have one of the lowest payrolls yet they did not release any minor league contract during the pandemic, when a majority of the other teams did. I will always respect the organization for that.

As a Yankees fan, I loved rooting for this team because of their story and not having a team loaded with huge names like most championship teams. Such a cool run they had and I always have a soft spot for KC when they make the playoffs because they seem like such a stand up organization.

I’ve been a Royals fan my whole life. This video really made me appreciate what the team did for this city during those two crazy years. I remember where I was for every single postseason game and the chills I got from seeing them again will never get old. Thank you for this!

Man I really wish they had a longer shelf life. So much fun to watch and their ascension from underdogs to villains made their playing style even better.

As a Mets fan this team will forever give me nightmares and haunt my memory

God, I absolutely loved Ventura for his passion. Outside of KC, he was easy to hate and I get it, but he was a hero in Kansas City and it became a dark place when he passed.

41 minutes about one of my favorite teams of all time? Heck yeah.

This is a fantastic video. I've always had a soft spot for the Royal's as my grand parents were from Kansas city.

I think I can speak for every Kansas Citian when I say, this was one of the best times in our city's history. No matter if you were a fan or not.

Oh hell yeah, our one moment in the spotlight in my lifetime. I really miss this team.

The K really is a beautiful stadium.

I'm not a Royals fan, but I fell in love with this team back in 2015. They were just such a great team with such a great story.

Hearing the everything that kauffman provided for the academy sounded exactly like what mlb should be providing for minor leaguers today.

Even as a haunted Mets fan, this royal team is one of my favorites EVER. The structure of the team was rebellious to the “high power, high strikeout” movement taking over the league around this time.

As a Mets fan I hate seeing this. As a SportStorm enjoyer I love seeing this. I'm incredibly conflicted, but it's great stuff.

Two of the best years of my life. Those seasons were amazing.

Growing up in KCK during these times was truly a great way to start my love for baseball, everyone knew we would come back for revenge in 2015 and we did so, kinda like the 2018 chiefs when they lost to the pats in the AFC championship game but coming back to win the next year, this is one of the greatest sport cities in America when the teams are good

Cain’s two diving catches will always give me chills. My favorite Royal

Thanks so much for making this SportStorm! All of us in KC really appreciate it. It's hard for bigger markets to understand how big a deal it is for a small market like ours to win a world's championship. The buzz lasts for years. That was such a great 2 year run. Really fun to revisit. Many thanks!

Nats Fan - but that 15' Royals team I will ALWAYS appreciate for showing a whole new way to win and build a team! The way that team was constructed was brilliant. As far as style points? Easily My favorite, the coolest and most unique team of the last 30 years. I can't give that Royals team enough accolades. Best TEAM (where the sum is greater than the whole of the Parts) in Any sport since the '04 Detroit Pistons. There was no superstar per say on those Royal teams, but they had ENDLESS depth at every position - especially that Bullpen (WOW!!). And it's not even close. As a homer only the 19' nats come close, just because we went from Last place at Memorial Day to champs in October - but that 2 year run of the Royals was something else.

Not a Royals fan but I appreciate what they did for the game in this stretch. Kind of the last hoorah of the old school approach. The 2019 Nat’s remind me of this approach as well but behind lights-out pitching.

Up until that point the greatest redemption i had seen in sports was finally seeing Nebraska win against Miami in Miami in 1995... But watching Wade Davis throw that glove in the air was the ultimate moment in sports for me.

I remember 2013 and there was so much hype going into 2014. Having people saying we could make the playoffs. I was so excited about it. I didn't expect what would happen in the post season

I loved those 2 years of Royals baseball, and that is coming from a White Sox fan. I definitely hated them when we bumped heads, but there was something about their brand of baseball and underdog vibes that made me latch on for the playoffs.

What amazes me is how loud the crowd is. After every home run or great play, you can hear the team. I feel like that is the mark of a great team and a great story.

As a Blue Jays fan, that 2015 ALCS still hurts, but I am happy for Royals fans… and five years later, KC got their Super Bowl as well? OK, now they’re just spoiled.

I live in Colorado, but I remember going to Kauffman stadium in 2015 with my uncle to watch the Royals play the Angels, that was my first time being exposed to any professional sport live. I remember watching the Royals beat out the Mets in 2015 in their incredible postseason run, just before the broncos beat up on the 'Indestructible' panthers only a few months later. That was an amazing era of my life, and every couple years since I've traveled to go watch the royals play with my Uncle. They usually lose nowadays, but that team still holds a special place in my heart.

I’m a Mets fan. This is giving me ptsd of cespedes kicking the ball

Seeing Ventura pitch made me sad. I have his rookie card. I expected him to get a Cy Young award maybe next year but then he died.

Being from Nebraska and a Royals fan. The tying home run by Gordon in game 1 is one of my favorite sports moments

Mets fans everywhere (including myself) will now proceed to wail in anguish.

I am a royals fan and this was one of the greatest times of my life

Man I forgot how much fun the 2014/2015 playoff runs were. I also don't remember seeing a starting pitcher go 9 full innings in the playoffs like Cueto did for them in 2015... times surely have changed. This year's Braves have a little Royal's DNA in them, especially when it comes to defense.

“Baseball isn’t fair” is the truest thing anyone has ever said. It does not matter what team you are, who you signed, who you traded for. Anyone can win, anyone can lose

I'm so glad this video exists. Thank you, SportStorm!

You want to talk about Big Game James Shields being an important veteran, player and contributor to helping establish the Royals identity... He did a lot of the same in making the Rays a winning team. Underrated player that people remember more for giving up a home run to Colon.

As a Royals fan who was at WS game 2 both years, this was freakin amazing and gave me goosebumps the entire vid! Only thing I wish woulda been highlighted more was Wade Davis’s dominance. Dude was un-hittable and was basically the reliever version of 2014 MadBum. Also the Game 4 win vs Houston was so dramatic, coulda been broken down a bit more. All in all, great freakin job SS!

Being from Kansas City I can say even with the chiefs success recently nothing can compare to how these two years of baseball made me feel. The sport being my first love and the royals being shit for my entire childhood made this a perfect culmination of happiness and excitement. Watching such an entertaining brand of baseball coupled with the characters like locain and hos and moose and salvy and esky and wade and the late ACE30. I smile to this day everytime I think about the countless memories I have from 14 and 15. Truly special and unforgettable people and moments. Ned should be in the HOF I stg.

Very well done presentation. I grew up watching the Cardinals win consistently with timely hitting, pitching, great defense, and stolen bases. The 2014-15 Royals played a similar style. IMO this style is much more fun to watch than the current 3 true outcome snoozefests in today’s game.

Great video that was a special time KC the whole city was united Kansas and Missouri! A lot of the City are not Chiefs fans so the Royals brought everyone together there was nothing like it!

I just decided to start a Royals franchise in MLB The Show 22 and thought I’d watch this to educate myself (and since it’s been coming up in my suggested videos for like 2 years.) Man am I glad you made this - my hype level has doubled 🔥 What a cool history this team has!

Man is that the best wildcard game ever or what?!

great video- i only wish there would have been a recap of the Houston come back "move the line" rally. Thank you for the post!

That 2015 World Series was remarkable. The Royals and Mets each had one dominating win. The other three games? Had just ONE play end differently in each game, it's a 4-1 Mets series win. Those games were bonkers.

I cry with joy every time I see this amazing performance!

Rockies✅ Japanese baseball scandal✅ Padres✅ Royals✅ Hopefully there’s more mini docs to come

As a Royals fan I miss 2014 and 15. 😢 What a good time to be in KC. All the talk about the team, etc.

As a Royals fan, I want to thank you for this video. You really nailed every aspect of what made that team, and that time special for Royals fans. I had somehow forgotten about personally casting thousands of All-star votes until you brought that up. The only thing I would've added was the 2015 ALDS comeback against the Astros, and their tendency to comeback in general. And maybe Esky's first pitch Magic. But I'm nitpicking.

18:52 my brother and I were at that game. Watching them sweep for the Pennant is a memory I'll cherish forever.

8:28 funny he says this bc that almost perfectly encapsulates Lorenzo Cain who never played any baseball until highschool

Just watched this video and the Padres 2021 video and I am blown away by your talented editing, voice over, and data finding skills! You earned a new subscriber! 🔥

Most of the "problems" happening in 2015 with other teams was because Ventura on our team was a young hot head and didn't really know when to not pick a fight. Sadly, he died unexpectedly in a car crash in early 2017 which really hit the community hard and we will not forget him. This upcoming season is looking good though, more homegrown players that look like they will do some good work!

It’s so hard for small market team to be successful, and the fact that my royals went to 2 WS and won it in 2015 is nothing I will ever forget. Small ball underdogs. That’s such a beauty in sports man. Unbelievable. 14-15 royals was like moneyball meets major league. It felt like a movie tbh. Go royals 👍

Been a Royals fan since 2007

Awesome video man, I'm glad someone was able to really show how special that 14-15 team was.

Man that team was something special. Anyone who appreciates good baseball will see that. Gonna be honest, those guys were complete menaces out there during the ‘15 season. They were waaaay ahead of their time with how flashy and swag they were. But the style of ball they played is almost a lost art now as the 2020s roll on. You described it best, the whole city rallied around them, and it was fun af to grow up in that. I think that it’s def still there, and hopefully my royals will be good in the next 5-10 years. Thank u for making this video, it brought so much nostalgia and joy to me at like 2am.

As a Royals fan, thank you so much for making this vid! The only thing I wish you would've done was go more in depth to game 4 of the 2015 ALDS because that might've been the most exciting game of that run.

Being in KC around this time, there was a buzz about the Royals that there never had been in my lifetime. 2015 was my senior year of high school and I told all my friends as far back as spring training that I would skip school and go to the victory parade if the Royals won it all. They ended up canceling school that day anyway. Shame that they haven't even had a winning season since that title.

I’m not even a Royals fan and then World Series highlights made me smile

This team was truly something special and as a royals fan/sports fan in general this was my favorite team! Thank you for making this amazing video so people never forget

From KC and let me tell ya 2014 and 2015 was special. The whole city was electric. Everyone felt so unified around this team. The team just was great homegrown dudes. We were so proud of them and the example they set in the league and in our community. Zobrist made his daughters name Royal (or middle name, can’t remember). The parade was other worldly. Schools cancelled across the town so we could go. Even some businesses gave people time off for it. The Super Bowl run was almost as magical but this was the first championship team we had seen in a long long time. Just special

Sigh... I'm sure gonna miss those guys 😟, the Royals were so good during those years, and I'm hoping they can make a come back one day.

Cardinals fan for life. My family are all royals fans though and watching the 14-15 royals was something special! A couple great years for that team!

What made that 14-15 core group so special is that most of them came up together through the minors, winning at the AA and AAA levels. A big part of what made them so good was playing together. Individually Moose, Hoz, Duffy, Salvy, etc didn't taut great stat lines. But when they were together, they were a special bunch.

Thanks for a great video, even if as an O's fan that 2014 squad still hurts me. That was our best recent year, I'm convinced. Happy new year buddy!

As a KC fan this is a very emotional video! Thanks for the memories!

What an amazing run and it was great to relive it through this video. I was born in 1986 and for the longest time I expected that the Royals would never make the postseason, let alone the WS. To have them go twice in consecutive years, winning one, was one of the most exciting rides of my life. I got to experience a bunch of the games in person, including the 2014 Wildcard, ALDS Game 3, and 2015 ALDS Game 5. They are some of my most favorite memories and I love the team.

This video is amazing. As a Kansas City native and someone who made a few videos about the 2014 and 2015 Kansas City royals back in the day thank you for making this video. In my opinion this team is one of the most amazing stories in sports history. Thanks again man.

Needed a new long video from you thank you 😊

Absolutely fantastic video. I can't even imagine how many hours this took you to edit. Loved the way you told the story from the beginning (had NO idea Royals Academy was ever a thing), and used data to illustrate the magical run of 14 to 15. Thank you!!

Awesome video, man! So great reliving these memories, I went to more games in 2015 than any season prior and watched or listened to every single Royals game that year. For a team (and town) that has done a lot of losing, 2014 and 2015 were an amazing time. Got me hyped for what we may see this season!

Thank you for creating this, it brought back ALL THE FEELS!

I have been waiting for this video for so long, I'm gonna enjoy this one

Found one video at the start of 2021 and I've been hooked ever since. Great work on the vids this year!

Thank you for the entertainment, this was phenomenal

Vids somehow keep getting better... Pure gold!

I'm still new to baseball so these videos act as guides to the sport especially the history, great video!

Such a trip they were just in Back To Back World Series in 14 and Winning 15. Time Flys Cubs have Won The World Series and The Giants ridiculous 5 Year Run surrounding KC 🏆 and it’s all long gone.

Great video, I can tell you put in a lot of effort!

Great video. just awesome! Thank you

Thank u for a royals video KC for life

Honestly, one of the best parts of these videos is easily the sick beats you always choose. Keep it up!

INCREDIBLE VIDEO. NOSTALGIC!!

As someone who has lived in Kansas City my whole life, the glory days were my middle school years. I remember the “hosmer cut” (hair style) was all the rave. I even had it myself at one point. They really changed the culture and livened the city!

As a royals fan this is the best royals video I’ve seen. Been watching you for a long time love the videos ❤️❤️

I remember the day after loosing in 2014 having this absolute assured thought, “We WILL be back next year.” I never doubted it, and neither did this relentless team.

Your videos are amazing! I don't even watch baseball, but stuff like this (and Bartolo Colon's video) is fascinating

Your vids never miss 🙌 keep up the good work!!!

Holy shoot that 2014 post season was a roler coaster of emotions

Thank you for making this video and bringing back so many fond memories. Being a KC native myself, I don't think anything could recapture the energy that the 2014-2015 Royals rosters created at the K. I went to game 6 of the 2015 ALCS and being able to be apart of many "Lets Go Royals!" chants is an unreal experience. Then going to the World Series parade after the win was one of the coolest things I ever got to experience.

Incredible video, I loved the 2015 royals and there playstyle. Such an interesting team. Great video man, I really enjoyed this. As an idea for another documentary type video maybe do one on the recent Indians teams and there good teams yet failure to win it all.

Just found this channel, phenomenal content. I forgot just how fun this time was and I say this semi-reluctantly as a Cardinals fan who is old enough to have rooted for them in the 80s. They reminded me of those great 80s Cardinals teams-great defense, contact and baserunning and solid pitching despite low power. A throwback for sure.