A crowd of 5,000 filed into Kauffman Stadium on Monday to watch the Royals work out and take batting practice in the “Take the Crown Rally” event. It was an unusual scene for a fan base that will experience postseason baseball for the first time in nearly three decades on Tuesday night when the Royals face the A’s in the American League Wild Card Game.

One day after the regular season ended, the first managerial moves were made on Monday as the Twins dismissed Ron Gardenhire after 13 seasons on the job and the Astros named A.J. Hinch their next manager.

Don’t look at the calendar, don’t look at the uniforms and don’t check the ticket stub. It doesn’t matter that Jon Lester is pitching in a tense postseason elimination game Tuesday, because he doesn’t need to turn it up a notch — ever.

Terry Ryan confirmed he’ll be back as Twins general manager next season, but Ron Gardenhire’s future with the organization still remains undecided after being offered an undisclosed job with the Twins despite being dismissed as manager on Monday.

When Adam Dunn steps in to face Kansas City’s James Shields in the first inning of Tuesday night’s American League Wild Card Game at Kauffman Stadium, he’ll end his career-long drought of never playing in a postseason game.

Major League Baseball on Monday announced the start times for Division Series games through Sunday. Start times will vary based on the winners of Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game between the Royals and A’s and Wednesday’s National League Wild Card Game between the Pirates and Giants.

The Twins have lost at least 92 games in four straight seasons, but with a loaded farm system on the way and the emergence of several young players, general manager Terry Ryan believes it’ll still be an attractive job. He said he’ll look both inside and outside the organization for the 13th manager in Twins history.

A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson might be slowed on the basepaths because of a sore left knee, but don’t expect it to hinder his performance otherwise in the postseason. If Donaldson can walk, he plays. That’s essentially the message he’s sent to manager Bob Melvin.

By earning their first postseason berth since 1985, the Royals turned the previous 28 years of unpleasant history into background noise. For the season to continue, Kansas City must overcome more unpleasant history, this time against Oakland starter Jon Lester.

Ron Gardenhire, who managed the Twins to six American League Central championships in his 13 seasons with the team, was dismissed on Monday.

Major League Baseball announced the umpiring crews for the upcoming Wild Card and Division Series games, with Joe West, Gerry Davis, Ted Barrett, Jeff Kellogg, Dale Scott and Mike Winters set to serve as crew chiefs.

It’s often said that experience plays a pivotal role come October. This year’s National League Wild Card Game (Wednesday night at 8:07 ET) between the Giants and Pirates presents an interesting twist on that traditional concept.

After a big finish that amounted to the most-attended final weekend of a season since 2008, Major League Baseball wound up with a total of 73,739,622 fans in the 2014 regular season, marking the seventh-highest total in the history of the sport.

Ned Yost, in his five seasons as Royals manager, has been vilified for a multitude of presumed sins — he mishandles pitchers, he bunts too much, he doesn’t pinch-hit enough, he looks grumpy for goodness sake! So Yost must feel vindicated now that he’s led this team into the promised land.

Voting is underway through Sunday exclusively at MLB.com to help decide the 16th annual winners of the Hank Aaron Award, given by “The Hammer” himself during the upcoming 110th World Series to the outstanding offensive performer in each league.

What’s the best way to beat the A’s and the Royals? To find out, we asked players from across their respective divisions to give the inside intel on how these clubs can be beaten. Our sources were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor.

There’s a strong chance of neighborly love going out the window this fall as regional rivals work their way closer (though not geographically) toward one another in the postseason. Matchups like these are typically reserved for regular-season Interleague play — a Battle of the Beltways or a Crosstown Showdown, for example — but with the Angels and Dodgers, Nationals and Orioles and Cardinals and Royals on opposite ends of the playoff bracket, it could make for a historic World Series.