Royals fans use ties, trolls and other lucky charms to give their team the edge

Sure, we can thank the Royals’ pitchers and bats for their postseason success. But in some small way, maybe we should tip our hat to Gavin McCollam’s tie.

Used to be it was every April when McCollam would wear the 1990s Royals tie his wife gave him.

“It became a running joke: Gavin wears his Royals tie on opening day, and the Royals have another terrible year,” said McCollam, who grew up in Topeka and now lives in Bismarck, N.D. “Then last year the Royals go to the playoffs. I wore it to the office every day there was a game, and we — oh, all right, they — kept on winning.”

Thanks, Gavin.

McCollam was one of dozens of fans from around the country who answered our call this week to reveal their secrets for helping the Royals make it as far as they have. Other good-luck charms we heard about on Facebook and Twitter (#RoyalsLuckyCharms):

▪ Rickey Stewart, Las Vegas: “A foul ball that I got at Royals spring training in 2012. Hold on to it the whole game. It worked all the way to Game 7 of the (World Series) last year.”

▪ Stephanie Moerschel of KC: “My daughter, Lilee Rose, who is 4, loves to cheer on the Royals. She keeps her pretend phone next to her because she says Ned Yost calls her throughout the game to ask what to do next. She is their lucky charm.”

▪ Sarah Coffelt, Springfield: “Blue panties, blue toenails, old-school Royals shirt!”

▪ Chris Holmes of Hawaii: “Living on the island of Kaua’i, it is difficult to get a game. If the game is shown, I make some hot pretzels, hot dogs, popcorn and Cracker Jack, turn up the stereo so it sounds like we are there and periodically walk through the house calling out: Peanuts, popcorn, get your hot dogs here! It seems to work. One of these days we will get back to see them at Kauffman!”

▪ Jake Allman of Missouri: “Got locked out of house during (Monday’s) rally because I lost hope. I’ll be in garage again (Wednesday) night.”

▪ Al Kallhoff (‏@huskral): “I must have Royals flag flying and KC hat hanging on the corner of fireplace mantel until I wear it for the game.”

▪ @peepishness, tweeting from Seattle, has a special Royals troll doll: “He’s been in his lucky spot for every postseason game since 2014. Oh yes, he's ready!!”

▪ Erin Erickson Cutchen of Utah: “Sadly … NOT wearing my Royals gear. They seem to lose when I do.”

▪ Jimmie Whitten of Irving, Texas: “Don’t watch it, they win.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Royals fans use ties, trolls and other lucky charms to give their team the edge."