By now you’ve seen that the 2014 ALCS will be played by the Royals and the Orioles. To some, this series comes as a disappointment considering it will not feature a marquee match-up, but to many others the presence of two teams without World Series wins since the 80s should provide an extremely refreshing and much needed new match-up in the ALCS.

Here are some of the reasons the 2014 American League Championship Series will be the most interesting one in a long, long time

1.Something new

2014 is the first ALCS without the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, or Angels since 1997.

Poor Papi (Source)

2.Seriously. Something new



The Orioles haven’t won a World Series since 1983. The Royals last World Series win (and postseason appearance) was in 1985.

Barely legal (Source)

3.Different playing styles, but both sure can hit.



The Royals lead the majors in stolen bases during the regular season in 2013 and 2014 with 153 bags taken in both of those seasons. Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler even stole a base last night versus the Angels, his first since 2012. The Royals also were last in the majors with only 95 homeruns, making them the only team in the majors who did not reach triple digit HRs. Despite their lack of power, the Royals are a team of great hitters, with the second highest team batting average in the American league with .263 and the least team strikeouts in the entire league with only 985 (second place were the A’s with 1,104). The Royals also drew the least walks in the American League with only 380. They just really like hitting.

I think he’s safe (Source)

#ThatsWhatCountryBreakfastDo (Source) (Source)

The Orioles lead the majors in Home Runs during the regular season in 2013 and 2014 with 212 and 211 respectively. The Orioles were also last in stolen bases in 2014 with only 44, making them the only team with less than 50 SBs. However, the Orioles had one of the top run differentials in the league with +112

How many teams didn’t want to sign Nelson Cruz? (Source)

Overall, the 2014 ALCS provides two teams with completely different playing styles that have not had a chance to to go the World Series for a very long time. Whether or not you root for one of these two teams, any baseball fan should welcome this new and uniquely different match-up of pure speed versus pure power and give some new guys their time to shine. I, for one, will watch any team that gives Billy “Country Breakfast” Butler the green light to steal a base.

By Alex Fudala

Note: All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com