KC Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer is the player that can bust the “No Superstar” narrative with a big season in 2016.

Three days ago, I argued that the “No Superstar” perception about the Kansas City Royals isn’t really accurate. Part of the problem is that KC Royals players tend to possess all-around excellence due to the personnel department’s emphasis on athleticism. Another cause for the perception gap is Kansas City’s small market size and long absence from relevance. Only after the KC Royals swept their way to the 2014 World Series did mainstream pundits and sports programming pay real attention to them.

That’s really about a year and three months.

Before two seasons of success came a 28-year exodus of failure. The only fans that paid any attention to the KC Royals were those born close to Kansas City, or had a KC player on their fantasy baseball team.

All of that has changed now. Salvador Perez and Eric Hosmer appeared on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Mike Moustakas, Jeremy Guthrie, and Drew Butera joined Eric Stonestreet to pepper Jimmy Kimmel with paintballs on TV after Kimmel lost a World Series bet to Stonestreet.

With two straight World Series appearances, and winning on the big stage in New York, the KC Royals are no longer anonymous. Rather than simply names with a stat line that sabermetric geeks might know, the KC Royals are becoming familiar faces to baseball fans across the country.