KANSAS CITY, Mo. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . - The moment Alex Gordon knew the Kansas City Royals were serious about winning can be traced to a cold December day when his wife heard they had traded for James Shields.The franchise had long suffered through a forgettable cast of starting pitchers, from Jay Witasick to Darrell May to Runelvys Hernandez. Hot prospects flamed out. Free agents fizzled. And every year, the Royals languished near the AL Central cellar.But things changed in December 2012. General manager Dayton Moore thought enough pieces had been assembled and all that was missing was the right starting pitcher — someone who could be the staff ace and change a clubhouse culture accustomed to losing.Moore called up the Rays and made the deal.Thats when I knew, Gordon said, that we were going for it.Two years later, a trade that was panned by many has helped the Royals reach the World Series for the first time since 1985. Shields, who will start Game 1 at home Tuesday night against San Francisco, has been everything Moore had hoped he would be.Those opportunities to acquire a top rotation starter and an impact pitcher like Wade Davis, theyre not presented year-in and year-out, Moore said. We were fortunate the timing of it was such that it was staring us in the face and put us in a position to compete in 2014.It was a gamble. The Royals sent baseballs top minor league talent, Wil Myers, and a bevy of other promising prospects to the Rays.Shields went 13-9 with a 3.15 ERA last year, helping the Royals to their best record in more than 20 years. And over the course of the season, Davis established himself as one of the most dominant late-inning relievers in the game.This year, Shields finished the regular season 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA, helping the Royals return to the post-season for the first time since their only World Series title.He started their wild-card win over Oakland. He allowed two runs over six innings in earning the victory in a Division Series game against the Angels. And he was good enough to help the Royals beat Baltimore in the ALCS, running their post-season winning streak to 11 games.Hes earned the nickname Big Game James for a reason, Royals manager Ned Yost said.On a team with few veterans, Shields has proved invaluable in October. And when he takes the mound against the Giants, hell be drawing on the experience he gained in 2008, when he tossed 5 2-3 innings for the Rays against the Phillies in the only other World Series start of his nine-year big league career.Hes been tremendous, said Greg Holland, the Royals All-Star closer. He takes that starting five as kind of collectively, Hey, we want to be the backbone of this team. We want to throw 200 innings apiece. We want to push each other, learn from each other.I think he also leads by example, taking the ball every five days and giving his heart and soul, Holland said. I think once you start rattling off good start after good start, it kind of builds on itself. You want to do just as good as the guy in front of you did.Shields also keeps the clubhouse jovial between games and ratchets up the intensity when its time to compete. Once hes on the mound, he stalks around like a lion, often roaring as he heads back to the dugout after a big strikeout.His teammates took notice, adopting many of his mannerisms.I just try to be myself and hopefully its contagious, Shields said. Thats about it. I mean, I have fun with this game. I feel like Im a grinder. I feel like I have a winning attitude, so hopefully it feeds off these guys, and we have fun with it. Were all little kids at heart.Shields can become a free agent after the World Series, and few expect him to re-sign with the small-market Royals. Clubs with far bigger budgets figure to drive up the bidding to the point that Moore is forced to bow out of the negotiations.All of that is for later, though. Shields is too busy with the present, trying to win a World Series ring, to worry about any of it.Obviously we understand the magnitude of whats going on in Kansas City, he said. Were going to go out there and play our game and trust our ability to win ballgames. Carolina Hurricanes Pro Shop .Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday it is inevitable that the league will one day take after European sports and have sponsor names on team jerseys. Hurricanes Jerseys China . Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . The 33-year-old Spaniard, who held the lead since the second round, turned in a solid final round that featured six birdies and two bogeys to finish on 22-under 266. The victory is Garcias first this year with his last win coming at the Johor Open, an Asian Tour event in Malaysia last December.LONDON, Ont. -- Dakota Mermis scored in overtime as the London Knights beat the Guelph Storm 6-5 in Ontario Hockey League play Thursday. Brett Welychka, Paxton Leroux, Ryan Rupert, Kyle Platzer and Mitchell Marner also scored for London (11-5-1), which blew a 4-1 lead in the first period. Jason Dickinson, Brody Milne, Justin Auger, Brock McGinn and Zack Mitchell scored for Guelph (15-3-1), which had three unanswered goals in the second period to tie the game. Both teams used two goaltenders. Anthony Stolarz allowed all five goals on 24 shots for London before Jake Patterson made 15 saves in relief. In the Storms goal, Justin Nichols and Matthew Mancina combined for 37 saves. --- ICEDOGS 6 STING 3 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Niagara took a 5-0 lead en route to a win over Sarnia. Carter Verhaeghe scored a hat trick for the IceDogs (6-9-3), who also had two goals from Ben Hughes and a single by Jesse Graham. Bryan Moore scored twice for the Sting (5-12-1), while Nickolas Latta had a single. Christopher Festarini stopped 28 shots for Niagara, with his counterpart Brodie Barrick make 30 saves for Sarnia. --- WOLVES 4 BATTALION 3 NORTH BAY, Ont. -- Nathan Pancel sent Sudbury ahead for good with a short-handed goal in the third period. Nicholas Baptiste, Jimmy McDowell and Stefan LeBlanc also scored for the Wolves (7-5-6). Barclay Goodrow scored twice, including a short-handed goal, for North Bay (9-10-1), with Alex Henriksson also scoring. Franky Palazzese stopped 37 shots for Sudbury, one save better than Jake Smith in the Battalion net. --- PETES 7 RANGERS 0 PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Andrew DAgostini made 28 saves and the Petes offence did the rest. Nick Ritchie and Clark Seymour each scored twice for Peterborough (8--9-1), with singles coming from Eric Comel, Stephen Pierog and Michael Clarke. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys. Matthew Greenfield made 14-of-18 saves for OHL-worst Kitchener (4-11-0) before being replaced by Jordan DeKort, who gave up three goals on 18 shots. The Petes thrived on the power play, scoring three on four chances. Kitchener went 0 for 6. --- SPITFIRES 6 WHALERS 5 WINDSOR, Ont. -- Kerby Rychel scored a hat trick including the game-winning goal for the Spitfires. Slater Koekkoek, Remy Giftopoulos and Cristiano DiGiacinto also scored for Windsor (10-6-0), which rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the first period. Carter Sandlak had two goals for Plymouth (7-12-0), which also had goals from Connor Chatham, Danny Vanderwiel and Ryan Hartman. Spitfires goalie Dalen Kuchmey and the Whalers Alex Nedeljkovic each finished with 38 saves. --- GREYHOUNDS 3 ATTACK 0 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Matt Murray made 26 saves for the shutout as the Greyhounds cruised past Owen Sound. Andrew Fritsch, Jared McCann and Darnell Nurse scored for Sault Ste. Marie (14-2-2). Brandon Hope allowed all three goals on 47 shots in net for the Attack (8-9-2). The power play wasnt very good for either team. The Greyhounds finished 1 for 7 while the Attack were blanked on four opportunities. --- COLTS 5 STEELHEADS 2 BARRIE, Ont. -- The Colts overcame an early deficit to earn a win against Mississauga. Andreas Athanasiou, Brendan Lemieux, Mitchell Theoret, Andrew Mangiapane and Zach Hall scored for Barrie (8-8-1). Sam Babintsev scored twice for the Steelheads (10-8-1), including the games opening goal 2:40 into the first period. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 24 shots for Barrie, while Spencer Martin had 29 saves at the other end of the ice. ' ' '