For most of the last quarter of a century, the Kansas City Royals have done something more difficult than achieving success…they’ve avoided it completely.

Royals fans are very well aware of the last time their favorite team played a post-season game. It was October of 1985, and there is a large group of Royals fans that have been born and graduated college and maybe even gotten their first promotion that have never witnessed this feat. This is truly a remarkable feat, especially when you consider the following things that have taken place in major league baseball since October of 1985:

• The Florida/Miami Marlins have managed to enter the league as an expansion team, and win 2 World Series titles
• The Colorado Rockies emerged as an expansion team and have qualified for the playoffs 3 times and played in one World Series
• The Arizona Diamondbacks entered the league as an expansion team and have qualified for the playoffs 5 times and won one World Series title
• The Tampa Bay Rays entered the league as an expansion team and have made 3 playoff appearances and one World Series appearance, and are currently on pace to make the playoffs again this year
• The Cincinnati Reds have made 3 playoff appearances and won one World Series title, and are currently on pace to make the playoffs again this year
• The Minnesota Twins have made 8 playoff appearances and won two World Series titles
• The Baltimore Orioles have made 2 playoff appearances and are currently on pace to make the playoffs this year
• The Pittsburgh Pirates have made 3 playoff appearances and are currently in contention for a playoff spot this year
• The Toronto Blue Jays have made 4 playoff appearances and won 2 World Series titles
• The Cleveland Indians have made 7 playoff appearances and appeared in 1 World Series
• The Oakland Athletics have made 9 playoff appearances, 3 World Series appearances, and won 1 World Series title
• The Seattle Mariners have made 4 playoff appearances
• The Milwaukee Brewers have made 2 playoff appearances
• The San Diego Padres have made 4 playoff appearances and one World Series appearance

The 14 organizations listed above are all similar in market size to the Royals.  Most of these organizations have had multiple runs of competitive/championship baseball in the time that the Royals have not even been able to put together one. The only organization that has managed to go longer than the Royals without a playoff appearance is the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.  However, they are all but assured of making the playoffs this season.  While Royals fans likely are ready to throw their computers out the window after reading this, it provides some good perspective on just how pathetic this organization has been over the last 25+ years.

For Immediate Release
I-70 Baseball – Springfield, MO

I-70 Baseball Announces First Writers Conference

I-70 Baseball is proud to announce the organization of the first Midwest Baseball Writers Convention to be held on February 12, 2011 in Springfield, MO.

Baseball writers from around the country are being invited to attend the first ever conference, aimed at creating a networking opportunity for writers to exchange ideas and meet with industry professionals that can assist them in expanding their reach within their industry.

Attendees of the conference will be allowed full access for the day to the various displays inside of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, guest speakers will grace the auditorium stage at the venue to discuss various topics.

Confirmed Speakers at this time are:

- Representatives from the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) will be on hand to discuss their organization and offer the ability to setup membership that day.

- Rob Rains will be on hand with copies of his book “Cubs Win, Cubs Win, or do they?”

- Tim Danielson of BaseballDigest.com will be on hand to discuss the collecting industry and the impact on

- A Sabermetric expert will be on hand to discuss statistics in today’s game and their place in journalism

- Experts on New Media and it’s reach into mainstream society

Other authors, professional athletes, and experts in their field have been contacted and we are finalizing the full list of guest speakers and celebrity guests.

In addition, I-70 has asked the United Cardinal Bloggers and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance for their involvement and we anticipate a large group of writers to attend the event, giving the unique opportunity for face-to-face interaction and relationship building going into the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

The conference will be an exciting time for writers to meet each other, learn more about their craft, and build their content to an all new level.

In addition, there will be a private dinner for guests and writers at Ebbet’s Field in Springfield, MO the night before the event on February 11.

Contact Bill Ivie, Founder of i70baseball.com, at bill@i70baseball.com for more information or to reserve your spot today. Attendance will be limited.

You can visit I-70 on Facebook here.
The official Facebook page of the conference is located here.