If I told you that we would see the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants in the World Series before this season started, what would you have said?

You would probably call me crazy.

You would point at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers and tell me that these teams had too many stars and too much money invested to be able to find a way to fail.

The New York Mets wore Negro League throwback jerseys early this season and nobody thought twice when looking at it.

So what made these two teams able to go the distance?

See that word there, “teams?” That is the reason they went the defense. Neither team went out and threw money at their problems. There is no marquee name on these teams, besides Buster Posey who is a product of the San Francisco Giants farm system, rather than someone they went out and bought.

These teams are made up of mostly players that they groomed since drafting them and the hard work is paying off.

Just look at how these teams win.

The Royals found their way to this stage through stealing bases and coupling that with timely hitting. Some call this “small ball,” but I think we should just call it baseball. The Royals play the most fundamental style of baseball that you will see. They bring stellar defense, brilliant base running and the ability to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position which leads to runs. To back up all of this, they have an unbelievable bullpen who has been lights out when handed the ball with the lead.

The Giants play a very similar style of baseball. While not as great at defense or base running, the Giants string together timely hits and put the ball in play when runners are on base. When putting the ball in play this allows base runners to move rather than staying still after a strikeout. Madison Bumgarner has been extraordinary as an ace for this pitching staff and whenever he is called upon you can expect him to deliver.

These two teams find ways to win ball games. I can’t even count how many times I have seen them play and thought there is no way they win this game. Both teams believe they will win and contribute as a team in order to find ways to win games. Whether they are hitting timely home runs late in games or making diving catches to save runs when the game is on the line, they just have a knack for the spectacular.

Who needs Mike Trout? Who needs Miguel Cabrera? It takes 25 men to win a World Series. We learned that last night when Travis Ishikawa hit a walk off 3-run home run to send the Giants to the World Series. Someone toward the bottom of the roster came through when it mattered.