Here's what the world was like the last time the Royals were in the postseason
Here's the last time the Royals were in postseason
In 1985, the last time the Royals played in the postseason, the Berlin Wall was still standing, Ronald Reagan had been sworn in to his second term as president and Den Xiopang was TIME's Person of the Year. You couldn't even complain on Reddit about Bret Saberhagen being wrongfully overlooked -- though the first .com domain was registered that year, that site wasn't created until 2005.
Instead of losing years of life to the internet, people were watching The Golden Girls, The Cosby Show and Growing Pains, or jamming out to Madonna and Simple Minds -- you know, that song from 1985's The Breakfast Club:
According to the Oscars, the year's best film was Out of Africa though the highest grossing was Back to the Future. You could have seen both for a little less than three dollars each.
In 1985, more than half of the Royals' current active roster had not yet been born. Yordano Ventura, DOB June 3, 1991, wasn't even a thought in his parents' minds. Lorde, the New Zealand songstress behind the team's somewhat unofficial anthem, wasn't born until 1996.
Wade Davis and Greg Holland were born in September and October of the Royals' last postseason year, along with fellow gifts to baseball Cristiano Ronaldo:
And Calvin Johnson:
Also born that year? Chris Paul, Michael Phelps, Raven-Symoné, Anna Kendrick, T-Pain and Walter White's son from another life -- Malcolm, aka Frankie Muniz.
Back then, a stamp cost 20 cents. In 1985, that information was extremely relevant, because in 1985 your fancy new computer looked like this:
The wreck of the Titanic was discovered. The first Nintendo system was released in America, on which you played Super Mario for the first time. You bought "We Are the World" because you liked Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie. You read the inaugural strip of Calvin and Hobbes.
Most importantly, you helped make Wham!'s "Careless Whisper" the number one song of the year. That's right -- Josh Reddick's sultry walk-up song. Since 1985, the Royals have been destined to face the A's. Will it be in the Wild Card game? Will it be later? Both teams still have games to win before this can be determined, but George Michael has clearly had his say.