When the KC Royals take the field on April third, they’ll be looking to defend their title as World Champions.

Last season the KC Royals ran away with the division on their way to their first American League Central Championship. Time after time in the playoffs they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as they stunned their opponents.

This year, the Royals will show up to Spring Training with a crown on their heads, literally. They’ll not only be wearing a crown, but will have a giant target on their back.

Winning has a funny way of changing a team. The team itself won’t change. They’ll keep their team oriented dynamic in place and will continue to play their brand of baseball. They’ll have fun along the way, and for some reason, other teams don’t care for that very much.

The Royals went from being ‘America’s Team‘ in 2014, to being the ‘bad boys’ of baseball by the time they played at the White Sox last season. No matter how many times a Royals’ player got hit by a pitch or thrown at, it was always the Royals who had done something wrong.

Here’s the bottom line: Somewhere along the way, all of these players who have a problem with the Royals having fun, used to play baseball because they loved it. It wasn’t a business or a job. Baseball is a game. Games are supposed to be fun. The Royals haven’t forgotten that, and it’s what makes them so fun to watch.

Everyone is going to be after that crown that the Royals are currently wearing. That’s going to make for a lot of tightly contested baseball. While I recommend you watch every game that you can, there are five series’ that have some great story lines behind them. They may not be the most pivotal games for the Royals, but they should be full of excitement.