A Royals celebration

— -- CHICAGO -- Sure, champagne might lose significant fizz after aging for, say, just short of 29 years, but as the Kansas City Royals discovered Friday, it still tastes pretty darn sweet.

Champagne was intentionally spilled on Royals uniforms for the first time in nearly three decades after the team defeated the Chicago White Sox 3-1 Friday night to wrap up the franchise's first postseason berth since winning the 1985 World Series.

To put that timeframe into perspective, the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays weren't even 10 years old in 1985. The Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks were still 13 years from taking the field for the first time and Billy Butler, who drove in a run during the Royals' three-run first inning, wouldn't even be born for another seven months.

"I think it feels better than expected, because you kind of tame your expectations, because you've got to go out there and get it done first," Butler said. "You don't ever want to be able to say you've got it until you've got it. We have a spot and couldn't be more proud."

In the process of clinching at least a wild-card spot, the Royals also moved to within a game of the first-place  Detroit Tigers in the American League Central. It creates the potential scenario of the Royals being able to pop more champagne on Sunday if they can overtake the Tigers and win the division.

"Where we're at right now is a good place," said pitcher Danny Duffy, who has the unenviable task of starting Saturday's game after all the emotion that was spilled Friday. "It's a very secure spot in the postseason, but there's more to be had. So, what we're trying to do is get the most out of these last two [games].

"We're going to have some fun tonight. I'm going to go home to the hotel and be in bed by 11, but there's more celebrations to be had. We've got to keep working towards that."

Royals manager Ned Yost maintained a calm demeanor amid his players' celebration, but his sense of pride kept rising to the surface. He has plenty of World Series experience, playing in one as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and coaching in some with the Atlanta Braves, so he knows that a long road still lies ahead.

"I've done this before, man," Yost said. "Ever since the minute I got here, I've longed to see that right there, to see those guys celebrate. It's an opportunity to go to the playoffs, and I've watched them develop into a playoff-caliber team and a team that I think is going to do OK. We're excited about it."

Despite not making the playoffs for nearly three decades, Yost scoffed at the notion the players carried the extra burden of the fans' expectations.

"They didn't care," Yost said. "That wasn't important to them. What was important to them was getting to the playoffs. It didn't matter. They didn't go to bed saying it's been 28 [seasons] since we've been in the playoffs. They just said, 'Let's go to the playoffs.'

"They are a group that has won championships together in the minor leagues, and they wanted to come up here and win a championship together in the big leagues."

George Brett, the Royals' vice president of baseball operations and team leader the last time the Royals were a playoff mainstay, had been irked that the current team was viewed as chasing the ghosts of the 1970s and 1980s Royals.

"I get tired of people criticizing the players on this team because they hadn't won a World Series since 1985," said Brett, who was in the postgame clubhouse but at a safe distance from the champagne spray zone. "Ninety-five percent of these f---ing guys weren't even born in '85. It's not their fault. These guys played their ass off all year.

"Eight games out, seven games out, took the lead, blew it, seven games down again, came back, got the lead again and battled and stayed with a team [the Tigers] that's supposed to win the division by a lot. And they're in a dogfight right now, so there's no reason you shouldn't be proud of every one of these guys."

That the dogfight continues with a division title still in play, which might just help to keep the Royals sharp for whenever they are asked to open the postseason. If it's as the wild card, they play Tuesday. If they can pull off a division title, they wouldn't start the playoffs until later in the week.

"We'll enjoy this now, we'll get back on the saddle and we'll let the chips fall where they fall," Butler said from the field after the game, an empty gold-plated champagne bottle in his hand and about 1,000 roaring Royals fans in the U.S. Cellular Field stands behind him. "There's a lot of different scenarios. We're just happy that we're in, and we'll take it from there. Right now, we'd be hosting a playoff game for the great fans in K.C."

It's been a long time for those fans. Or, as one sign in the stands read: "Party like it's 1985!"