<table> </table> Been two months now, but Royals fans looking for reasons to smile remember <strong>Kyle Davies&#8217; </strong>solid gold September.</p><p>For at least one month, he transformed from a back-of-the-rotation, fringe major-leaguer to a reliable, sometimes-dominating guy who could be a solid part of the Royals&#8217; future.</p><p>It&#8217;s important to recognize the context here, but it&#8217;s also interesting that Davies &#8212; in this story &#8212; is the first big-league player to talk publicly about working with <strong>Buddy Biancalana</strong>, the former Royal who now offers a proprietary mental training program for pro athletes of all sports.</p><p>&#8220;I think one of the keys to my success has never really been talent, it&#8217;s been not getting in my own way,&#8221; Davies says. &#8220;I think that&#8217;s a lot of what Buddy&#8217;s program is about. It&#8217;s being as successful as you can be with the talent you&#8217;re given, without all the road blocks that human beings put in front of themselves.&#8221;</p><p>Davies went 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in his five September starts, compared with 5-6 and 4.76 before that. He gave up 22 hits in 31 2/3 innings with a 24:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio &#8212; 47:36 before September.</p><p>Davies believes this is only part of his September surge. But with the Royals not out shopping for <strong>CC Sabathia </strong>or <strong>Derek Lowe</strong>, the best pitching news this offseason might be that Davies&#8217; success is replicable in part because of the training that not even the Royals knew about.</p><p>Biancalana keeps his methods mostly secret, and there are stories of failure, too &#8212; the program couldn&#8217;t save one pitcher who was once highly regarded and now in his third organization.</p><p>But Biancalana has statistical evidence that shows his program works more often than not, and a growing number of success stories &#8212; Davies joins PGA golfer <strong>Lee Janzen </strong>as the best-known to talk about the program.</p><p>Davies first met Biancalana in 2006, when he was with a minor-league team in the Braves&#8217; organization pitching a simulated game. He said he was skeptical at first, but once it sank in and he was able to tailor Biancalana&#8217;s program to his own comfort levels, he put more confidence in it.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s not my pitching coach, and he&#8217;s not my shrink,&#8221; Davies says. &#8220;He&#8217;s just someone to help you get over the bumps in the road that all major-leaguers have. A lot of it I want to attribute to maybe I have calmed myself down a little bit, gotten a little bit older &#8230;</p><p>&#8220;I think his program gave me a couple steps in the right direction.&#8221;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Dating Tyler</span></strong></p><p>The jokes are too easy here, and it&#8217;s for a good cause, so we&#8217;ll just mention that a date with Chiefs quarterback <strong>Tyler Thigpen </strong>will be auctioned off at 8 p.m. Friday at the Uptown Theater, proceeds benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters.</p><p>Thigpen is one of 24 local singles selected by <em>KC Magazine</em> for the auction. Tickets are $25 in advance or $35 at the door.</p><p>Go to <a href="http://www.midwestLUXE.com">www.midwestLUXE.com</a> for details.