Ex-Royals exec shares epic story of coach Mike Tomlin and 2015 World Series champs
When you think about the greatest playoff games in Royals history, one is often overlooked.
The Royals’ 4-3 win over the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the 2015 American League Championship Series had it all.
- Mike Moustakas hit a controversial home run (from a Canadian perspective)
- The Royals coughed up a two-run lead in the eighth inning
- Wade Davis put out the fire in the eighth inning before a 45-minute rain delay
- When play resumed, the Royals took the lead on Eric Hosmer’s RBI single that scored Lorenzo Cain from first
- After the delay, Davis closed out the game despite Toronto having a runner on third with no outs and second and third and one out
The Royals celebrated into the early hours of Saturday and they had time off before Game 1 of the World Series started on a Tuesday.
Some of the players and manager Ned Yost attended the Chiefs-Steelers game at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday ... and they received a hero’s welcome from the fans.
Mike Swanson, the former Royals vice president of communications and broadcasting, shared an epic story from that Chiefs game after Mike Tomlin stepped down as the Steelers’ head coach earlier this week.
“Believe it or not, this old baseball retiree has a Mike Tomlin story,” Swanson wrote on X.
“The 2015 Royals squad clinched its second straight American League title with a win over the Blue Jays on a Friday night in Kauffman Stadium. After the game and obligatory celebration, my friend Brad Gee from the Chiefs asked if a handful of guys would like to come to their noon game against the Steelers on Sunday, I was able to get Ned Yost, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Sal Perez and Drew Butera to come to the game.
“We met at Kaufman stadium around 10:00 a.m. ,grabbed the A.L. Championship trophy and received an escort through the tunnel that connects the two stadiums. They took us down to the field for pre-game workouts and would eventually be introduced to the Arrowhead crowd.
“While standing on the Chiefs side of the field, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin recognized our guys and came running over for the pep talk of a lifetime. I’m basically paraphrasing here, but he looked our guys in the eyes and basically yelled, ‘Congratulations on winning the other night, now don’t ... settle this time. Go kick somebody’s ass and win the big trophy.’
“The look on all the guys faces was amazing, but Hoz was most vocal, yelling ... ‘I could go play for that guy right now. Wow, is he intense.’
“Apparently the quick pep talk helped and the rest is history. By the way, in case you were wondering, needless to say, the Arrowhead crowd went berserk when they showed the guys on the board carrying that trophy.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 9:03 AM.
