Top 25 MLB pennant races of all time

18. Royals shock the world, 2014

With a dominant bullpen and an offense that made just enough contact to keep things interesting, the Kansas City Royals followed their own formula to reach the playoffs in 2014. The franchise had not been to the playoffs since the 1985 and had just one winning season 1995 to 2012. The long-term plan the front office had laid through the draft finally began to pay off in 2013.

At the trade deadline the Royals were only 55-52 and did not look like a serious playoff threat. A 17-3 stretch from July 30 to August 19 put them in the hunt to stay and they did not slow down from there.

Meanwhile out West, the Oakland Athletics were going for it in a way that they had never gone for it during Billy Beane’s tenure. They traded for Jon Lester, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel in an effort to remain on top in the AL West, but the moves backfired in a major way. Trading away Yoenis Cespedes proved to be too much of a blow to the lineup and clubhouse morale and the A’s blew a massive lead and had to fight for the second Wild Card.

Ultimately, the A’s were able to hold off the hard-charging Seattle Mariners by a game, setting up one of the best Wild Card Games since the addition of the second playoff spot. The Royals ran all over Lester in the one-game playoff and then won seven games in a row to sweep the AL out of the playoffs. Their magical run to the World Series ended just short of the title, but they came back to win it all in 2015.