The postseason shirts of 2014 and 2015
These might all be in my closet
(Ed note: I’ve been wanting to do this story for a while and just got around to it in August. It was suppose to be used as a future Friday Rumblings topic. However, as the Royals drew closer to the playoffs and I hadn’t run it yet, I asked around if it would make a good stand alone story. The response was positive so it got that treatment instead.)
As the Royals have now returned to the postseason, maybe we could all use a refresher on how that works. If the Royals make the playoffs and if they, god willing, make a deep run, let’s look back at some of the lessons learned from our 2014 and 2015 experiences with the team. For instance, if you bought tickets from a reputable site and a playoff game listed as “if necessary” is not played, you don’t lose the money - you get a refund. Make sure to go to sleep early on the off days in the playoffs because game nights are long and stressful and the playoffs can last an entire month. This isn’t football where you only have three or four games to win a Super Bowl.
Finally, today’s main topic concerns memorabilia, specifically commemorative t-shirts. While you can go to your local Rally House, Dick’s, Hy-Vee, or even street corner and find dozens of shirts for any occasion, licensed and unlicensed, maybe you’ll want to take a little extra time and spend a little extra money to get the ones that everyone else will be wearing, to share that common bond.
For teams that win things, there’s the whole concept of a “locker room shirt”. It’s just another way to describe the one official shirt that they hand out on the field or, yes, in the locker room, after winning a series or title. Annoyingly, when I try to Google it to link to a definition, all I get is people trying to sell them. And that’s even if I search on “What is a locker room shirt”. So you’ll just have to take my word on that term.
Unfortunately, and, um, how do I put this politely: the Royals haven’t had a lot of locker room shirts lately. Maybe less politely: there are no official Cactus League champ shirts.
Because of that, we’re going to look back to 2014 and 2015 and go through the whole set of official “locker room” shirts for those two playoff runs. My wife, seeing me writing this article: “You have all of these shirts... You’re even wearing one RIGHT NOW!”
NOTE: I did my best to try to get a picture of all the major players that were a part of the run because, you know, nostalgia. However, the image search tool has limits and I just couldn’t find a number of player in a relevant shirt.
2014 Postseason - This was the very first shirt from the playoff run. It’s a nice charcoal grey and notes “AL Postseason” and “Central Division” and was kind enough to not say “Wild Card”. This was the one the team wore on the field in Chicago after clinching a playoff berth, the team’s first in 29 years.
2014 Wild Card Game - I’m confident in saying this is a game that none of us will ever forget. After the memorable extra inning victory, the Royals donned the first of two blue shirts with white and gold lettering. Nothing screams “2014” like a hashtag on a t-shirt. Really, it screams “2012”, but baseball is nothing if not behind on the times.
2014 ALDS - Game 3 had Mike Trout’s only career postseason home run (to date), but the Royals won going away against the Angels to go onto the ALCS. I know it’s a bit busy, but this has always been my favorite shirt from 2014.
2014 ALCS - I love the sentiment of “We own the pennant” but the shirt looks so plain. It’s block lettering with a logo as an afterthought. The Giants one is similarly ugly - just with a black shirt and orange lettering instead of blue and gold for the Royals. I never could find any pictures of Davis or Herrera celebrating so this qualifies as your HDH image for the playoff run.
2014 World Series - Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of some rogue “Royals: 2014 World Series Champions” shirt that were sent overseas.
Quick aside: I also liked the simple “Always October” shirts that were the “official” motto of the 2014 postseason. The block lettering with the October script is nice and clean with the simple postseason logo below. Every team had one in their colors. In 2015, it became “Take October” and MLB has used that motto on and off since.
2015 AL Central - For the first time in 30 years, the Royals won the division. They got grey duds that say “The Central is Ours” with a skyline of the city in blue. Each city had their skyline like St. Louis had the arch in red, the Mets had Manhattan in orange, etc. If you’re curious, Wild Card shirts said “The Postseason is Ours”. I’m a big fan of these.
2015 ALDS - I really don’t like the “Kansas City Wants it More” as it comes off as weirdly braggy to me. However, I love these shirts. The Kauffman silhouette looks gorgeous. While the other teams all look good, too, with a dark blue Skydome, orange Citi Field, and red (?) Wrigley Field, the powder blue just pops on the black.
2015 ALCS - These are a little bit of a letdown after getting a skyline and a stadium in the previous two. However, I like the lettering on “Pennant” even if the rest of the shirt is blandly generic. The league really leaned into powder blue on all the playoff shirts in 2015.
2015 World Series - Most World Series shirts over the last decade are the same. They have the trophy featured prominently with the team logo and something about World Series champs/champions. Honestly, this is my least favorite one to wear as there’s so much writing on it that rubs against the skin. But I can’t argue with the sentiment.
2015 Parade: Yes, there are official parade shirts. These vary a lot from year to year and reflect some of the character of the city. The “Thanks Kansas City” feel very Midwestern, deflecting back to the town rather than, say, the braggy “We own the parade” of the 2013 Red Sox. They may not scream “parade” but they’re simple and clean.
And that’s the complete set from 2014 and 2015. Hopefully, the 2024 Royals will give us another half dozen or so shirts this year.
Last little hint from a cheapskate: If you’re buying this year, you can either pay the full price now (for instance, $40 for that October Ready shirt) or take a chance and snag it on sale later. Some of the shirts went on sale after a month or so, but others just ran out of stock or only had limited sizes and then you’re left paying secondary market prices on eBay if you really want them.