It's not very often that we see the Kansas City Royals in a playoff race this deep into the season, as they've only had one winning record in the last 10 years.

Midway through the season, the Royals are 45-39, good enough for second place in the American League Central behind the Detroit Tigers.

The Royals have not made the postseason since 1985, the second-longest drought in Major League Baseball. The Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos have the longest playoff drought dating back to 1981. Venezuelan catcher Salvador Perez leads this team with 10 home runs and Alex Gordon leads the team with 42 RBIs.

Royals fans remember 1985 quite well. Not only was that the last time their team made the postseason, but the Royals won the World Series that season. Unfortunately, St. Louis Cardinals fans remember it as well for the Game 6 missed call at first base by umpire Don Denkinger that cost the Cardinals a World Series.

Up in Canada, the Blue Jays are trying to end a drought as well.

In the early '90s, the Blue Jays were one of the best teams in baseball, winning back-to-back World Series titles in dramatic fashion. Joe Carter was the hero in '93 after he hit the walk-off World Series three-run homer to give the Blue Jays their second consecutive championship. But the Blue Jays haven't seen the playoffs since.

This Blue Jays squad is the best power-hitting team in all of baseball with 108 total home runs hit. The Blue Jays are currently 45-39, which is tops in the AL East right above the Baltimore Orioles. With Canada not hoisting a Stanley Cup since 1993, and more specifically the city of Toronto since 1967, their best chance may come from the baseball field.

Those are possible drought-ending stories, but on the other side, we have streaks that may come to an end as well.

The American League East has been absolutely dominated by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox over the last two decades. The Red Sox and Yankees may hate each other, but the respect runs high because they're the ones out in front most of the time.

In the last 19 seasons, only three times has a team other than the Yankees or Red Sox won the AL East. Those teams are the '97 Orioles, '08 Rays and the 2010 Rays. During that time period, the two teams have a combined eight World Series titles. But that's not what's on the line for both of these teams this year. What is at stake is a 21-year streak for both the Yankees and Red Sox.

The last time the Yankees and Red Sox both missed the postseason was 1993, back when President Bill Clinton was in his first year of his first term in office, Swedish pop group Ace of Base was climbing the charts and Winona Ryder's film The Age of Innocence, which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, was released in theaters.

The Yankees currently sit at 41-40 with a lot of time to fix their issues and catch up to the Orioles and Blue Jays. Rookie pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been everything the Yankees had hoped for, but the bats just aren't showing up. The Yankees rank 21st in home runs hit and 20th in runs scored. Not exactly the run support fans had hoped for.

As for the Red Sox, it's been a disappointing season after winning the World Series. David Ortiz has been playing well, but he can't carry the team alone. The Red Sox offense has been even worse than the Pinstripes, as they rank 26th in runs scored and find themselves 38-45 overall.

There's still the second half of the season to be played, but as it stands, we could be watching two long droughts come to an end as well as a long combined streak. It would be weird watching the MLB postseason and not seeing either the Yankees or the Red Sox playing, but instead viewing the Blue Jays and Royals.

Time will tell if that possibility becomes a reality.

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