In my best post championship Sports Illustrated commercial announcer’s voice: “CONGRATULATIONS Royals Fans! Your Team is World Champs!” All those years of waiting for your prospects to come through are over.

After a great game 5, and another come from behind victory, the Royals showed how their hitters can manufacture runs better than any team in the league. They went up against the Mets best pitchers and came out with a convincing Series win in five games. Not too shabby. Lucky for us, many of their players are not hobby superstars, but are definitely hobby vets in signing cards and appearing in sets. Because the Royals were terrible for so long, they had lots of high profile draft picks that were featured in card sets for a long time. Yesterday we finally saw the culmination.

Salvador Perez

Although he won Series MVP, the award could have really gone to any number of players. Perez just happened to be the guy that got the honor. His single started the rally in the 12th, and he batted over .360 for the five games. He is the one guy that doesnt get much fanfare in the hobby compared to his teammates, and he definitely deserves more.

2012 Gypsy Queen Salvador Perez On Card Auto

2015 Topps High Tek Salvador Perez Auto 4/5

2015 Immaculate Salvador Perez Auto Patch Logo 3/5

Lorenzo Cain

As the face of the Royals, give or take, Cain was on the hook to have another whirlwind playoffs, much like he did in 2014. He didnt disappoint, and his four WS RBI helped the Royals come away with key wins. Cain was a relative nobody coming into last year, and he still doesnt have much to choose from in the hobby. That will likely change.

2011 Topps Lorenzo Cain 60th Anniversary Auto SP

2006 Bowman Chrome Lorenzo Cain RC BGS 9.5

2015 Topps Update Lorenzo Cain All Star Game Relic

Eric Hosmer

Hosmer didnt exactly have the best series overall, hitting .190 with an error in the field, but he had some memorable plays that people will remember for a long time. His sac fly to win game 1 was awesome, and it doesnt stop there. In the deciding game, he knocked in a run in the top of the 9th and scored on a base-running play that was incredibly heads up. Those two runs sent it to extras, where the Royals won on a big 12th inning. His Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome rookie autos have already started to come up in value, and that will likely continue for a few weeks.

2011 Bowman Chrome Eric Hosmer Gold Refractor Auto BGS 9.5

2011 Topps Chrome Eric Hosmer Auto RC

2012 Topps Tier One Eric Hosmer Auto

Alcides Escobar

The ALCS MVP came down to earth a bit in the World Series, but was still a big factor in the win with an RBI in game five that continued the huge rally. His cards were already spiking after his MVP win, and he has signed enough over the last few years that his cards arent hugely expensive.

2011 Triple Threads Alcides Escobar Auto Triple Relic

2012 Gypsy Queen Alcides Escobar On Card Auto

Mike Moustakas

When Moose was drafted and his rookies hit in 2007, we thought he would be an anchor in the Royals lineup. He never really had the career that people thought and struggled for a while. This year was his first year playing like an All Star, and he played quite well in the WS as well. Maybe his cards will finally rebound.

2011 Bowman Sterling Mike Moustakas Gold Refractor Auto

2008 Bowman Chrome Mike Moustakas Auto RC

Alex Gordon

Remember back when Alex Gordon was the hottest thing in the hobby? Seems like the Royals have had a few rookies like that. Like Moustakas, Gordon took his time getting up to form, but over the last few years, he has been great. His home run in the bottom of the ninth in game 1 was pretty memorable, and gave some nice lift to his value. That will likely continue much like his teammates now that they are champs.

2015 Topps High Tek Alex Gordon Auto 4/25

2006 Bowman Chrome Alex Gordon Auto Xfractor RC

The playoffs in any sport always lead to nice spikes, more so in the championship deciding games. Going to be interesting how the Royals’ cards do, considering they are coming back for a second WS in a row, and really have no one that can be considered a hobby superstar by any stretch. Hopefully we can see some nice movement.