Despite going into the season as the reigning league champs, many pundits doubted the Royals in 2015, assuming their pennant run was a fluke built on a hot streak late in the year. The Royals proved the doubters wrong, winning 95 games, most in the league, before defeating the Astros, Blue Jays, and Mets to win their first championship in three decades.
The Royals won many of their games in thrilling fashion, with a "never-say-die" attitude that was best captured by the club overcoming a 6-2 deficit in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the ALDS against Houston.