The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since 1973, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium, formerly known as Royals Stadium. The Royals have participated in three World Series, winning the 1985 World Series and losing in 1980 and 2014. The name Royals originates from the American Royal, a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and championship barbeque competition held annually in Kansas City since 1899. The name also fits into something of a theme for other professional sports franchises in the city, including the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, the former Kansas City Kings of the NBA, and the former Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League. Entering the American League as an expansion franchise in 1969, along with the Seattle Pilots, the club was founded by Kansas City businessman Ewing Kauffman. The franchise was established following the actions of Stuart Symington, then-United States Senator from Missouri, who demanded a new franchise for the city after the Athletics (Kansas City's previous major league team that played from 1955 to 1967) moved to Oakland, California in 1968. The new team quickly became a powerhouse, appearing in the playoffs seven times from 1976 to 1985, winning one World Series championship and another AL pennant, led by stars such as George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, and Bret Saberhagen. The team remained competitive throughout the mid-1990s, but then had only one winning season from 1995 to 2012. For 28 consecutive seasons, from 1986-2013, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, one of the longest postseason droughts during baseball's current expanded wild-card era. The team broke this streak in 2014 by securing the franchise's first wild card berth and advancing to the World Series.

Kauffman Stadium

The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venue has been Tropicana Field. Following nearly three decades of unsuccessfully trying to gain an expansion franchise or enticing existing teams to relocate to the Tampa Bay area, an ownership group led by Vince Naimoli was approved on March 9, 1995. The team began play as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1998 Major League Baseball season. The team's first decade of play was marked by futility; they finished in last place in the AL East in all but the 2004 season, when they finished second to last. Following the 2007 season, Stuart Sternberg, who had purchased controlling interest in the team from Vince Naimoli two years earlier, changed the team's name from "Devil Rays" to "Rays", now meaning both a manta ray and a ray of sunshine; a manta ray logo appears on the uniform sleeves while a sunburst appears on the uniform front. The 2008 season saw the Rays post their first winning season, their first AL East championship, and their first American League pennant (defeating the rival Boston Red Sox in the ALCS), though they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in that year's World Series. Since then, the Rays have played in the postseason seven more times, winning the American League pennant again in 2020 and losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in that year's World Series. The Tampa Bay Rays' chief rivals are the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, which also play in the AL East. Regarding the former, there have been several notable on-field incidents. The Rays also have an in-state interleague rivalry with the National League (NL)'s Miami Marlins (originally the Florida Marlins), whom they play in the Citrus Series. Through 2022, the Rays' all-time record is 1,912–2,034 (.485).