As the season chugs along into the middle of August, fans find themselves wrapped up in the game of baseball on a whole new level. No longer are they simply watching to see if their team wins. Now it is equally important that other teams lose. Some fans even find themselves rooting for their rival simply because that rival team can help generate a larger gap in the standings for their current team.

Fans like myself start dreaming of possible October match-ups between two of their favorite teams. The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals continue to lead their respective divisions. The teams even continue to play well despite injuries to key players on both rosters. It provides a unique possibility of the teams playing in a World Series that never leaves the state of Missouri for the first time since 1985.

The Cardinals were early favorites to win their division, though the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers were more likely to find their way to the World Series. At least according to ESPN at the beginning of the year. That same article showed no respect to the Kansas City Royals, however.

Yahoo’s group of writers didn’t seem to change that tune at all before the season started. Most of the writing staff there had the Dodgers or Nationals in the World Series on the National League side. None of them had the Royals even in the picture.

Here in August, the Royals and Cardinals continue to lead their divisions and show very little sign of slowing down. My Top Sportsbooks has both of the teams heavily favored to win the World Series with the Royals at 9/2 odds and the Cardinals at 8/1. As time continues to chug along in the season, the two Missouri teams seem to be defining their roles quite well.

As for me, I’ll continue to dream of an I-70 series in 2015 while watching the Royals and Cardinals and keeping an eye on the Indians, Pirates and Cubs.