( CNN ) -- From 1976 to 1985 the Kansas City Royals were awesome . They had one of the best hitters in the game . They had sharp young pitchers . They were a part of almost every October . But the 1985 World Series comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals was the Royals ' last taste of glory until Wednesday , when this year 's team rumbled back into the Fall Classic , sweeping the Baltimore Orioles to win the American League Championship Series . For much of the past 29 years , the Royals have n't been a baseball afterthought , they 've been a non-thought , except for their loyal fans . There 's plenty of room on the Royals bandwagon , so if you 're thinking about getting on , here are five things to consider : . They 're not baseball royalty . If asked to name one Kansas City Royal , most people would say George Brett . If asked to name a current Royal , most people would be silent . But do n't be too embarrassed , this is a team that does n't have any huge stars . They do n't even have many celebrity fans . We think they have one -- actor Paul Rudd . They do n't make splashy news in the free agent market . They built a great team through some smart draft picks and augmented the roster through a few nifty trades . But none of the names in the lineup stands out to people who do n't closely follow the game . Seriously , had you heard of Lorenzo Cain until October ? ( He was the most valuable player of the ALCS , by the way ) They can pick it . It seems like you ca n't hit a ball where the Royals ai n't . On Wednesday , the Orioles smoked four balls in the first two innings right on the nose . Every one was turned into an out . The game was punctuated by a great catch by Alex Gordon , who slammed into the left-field wall just after his glove swallowed the ball . Before the season , a whole lot of experts said the Royals had some of the best fielders in the majors , but then they made a 104 errors , including a stretch of 35 in 35 games . So far they 've had far more great plays than errors ( just three in eight games ) in a tense and tight postseason . They believe . The Royals have n't lost in the post season since 1985 . Well , that 's in part because they have n't been in the playoffs since 1985 when they won the last three against the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series , four games to three . But check this , they 've won 11 straight games in the postseason . All eight this year , most of them of the nail-biting , got ta -get-a-clutch-hit variety . They were four runs down and six outs from being bounced out of the playoffs before it really even started . But they rallied to beat the Athletics in extra innings in a thrilling Wild Card game and dispatched the highly favored Angels with two extra-innings wins and a rare ho-hum easy `` W '' in the division series . They swept the Orioles in four but they only outscored them by six runs . It helps the offense to know the bullpen is going to lock it down so all they have to do is keep it close , third baseman Mike Moustakas said . `` This team just does n't panic , '' he said . They just have fun . Bo knows . Former Royal Bo Jackson says the kids on this team are a joy to watch . `` It 's been a long time since I 've seen professional athletes have fun and enjoy the heck out of coming to work every day , '' he told sports host Jim Rome this week . The lack of outward happiness could stem from the huge money that puts pressure on players to perform , he said . Well , the not-so-regally compensated Royals -- they are 18th out of 30 teams in the majors in payroll at $ 91 million -- do n't take the field with high expectations or a lot of pressure . This team has been rebuilding and manager Ned Yost accepts stumbles that come with a youthful team . `` To watch them go through the last couple of years , the ups and the downs and to finally get to this point , I am very proud of them , '' he said . They are due . It was about a decade ago that the Royals lost 310 games in three years . It would n't even be June yet and Royals fans were already ready to give up . You never knew who the Royals fans were in your office because they never had anything to brag on . It 's been 29 years since their team had won a playoff game , let alone go to the World Series . Sure , there are teams with longer droughts , but these Royals are the likeable and plucky underdogs who just ca n't seem to be bothered with losing . CNN 's Jill Martin contributed to this report .
The Kansas City Royals clinched a spot in the World Series on Friday night . It 's the first time they ' ve done that since 2004 . They 're riding an impressive win streak heading into the Fall Classic .