By Jeffrey Flanagan

From the beginning, baseball people knew the Kansas City Royals were an organization that did things the right way.

They knew the Royals scouted the right way, developed players the right way, and treated their people the right way.

“When we went into other cities or other teams came to our place,” said Hall of Famer George Brett, “people looked up to us. They respected us. They respected how we approached every phase of the game.”

The payoff for late owner Ewing Kauffman? The Royals were a persistent playoff contender, appeared in two World Series, and, of course, won a World Championship in 1985.

And now, in the Royals’ 40th anniversary season, it is the task of the current regime led by owner David Glass, general manager Dayton Moore and manage Trey Hillman to restore that glory, and to remind people around baseball that the Royals still know how to, and are capable of, doing it the right way.

“Oh, we’ll get there,” Brett said. “Dayton will make sure of that.”

As the Royals enter their 40th anniversary season, it is easy for long-time observers to look back with a sense of pride at the way the Royals were built.

The Royals assembled a collection of tremendous talent through the draft and through shrewd trades, players such as Brett, Hal McRae, Frank White, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Dennis Leonard and Dan Quisenberry. The list goes on and on.

But Royals players not only possessed talent, they also played the game properly and with a competitive drive unmatched by other teams.

“There was a certain fundamental approach in the way we played,” Paul Splittorff said, “that never changed and always seemed to give us the confidence to win.”

The string of playoff success started in 1976 with the franchise’s first division title. Then came a World Series appearance in 1980. And ultimately, a World Championship was achieved with the dramatic comeback win over St. Louis in the 1985 World Series.

“Even in New York, and the Yankees spent big money back then, too,” long-time Royals radio announcer Fred White noted, “there was respect for the Royals and how we did things. I know even George Steinbrenner begrudgingly respected the Royals.”

The Royals, in fact, were such as model franchise that the expansion Toronto Blue Jays made it very clear in the 1980s that they were trying to pattern themselves after the Royals.

“They might have been the first team to publicly admit that,” White said.

But in the 1990s, a new era began to develop in baseball. Large-market teams such as the Yankees began to exploit their financial resources and the economic gap between big markets and small markets made life trying for fans like those in Kansas City.

Still, the Royals never strayed too far from the national spotlight. Royals fans had numerous moments to cling to – Brett reaching 3,000 hits and eventually entering the Hall of Fame, the breath-taking Bo Jackson era, the emergence of stars such as Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon.

Unquestionably, Bo brought a rock-star status to the team in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fans and media flocked to Bo at home and on the road.

“It was like Madonna having a press conference in the clubhouse everyday,” teammate Danny Tartabull said.

Bo’s incredible feats became legendary. There was his 440-foot rocket homer off Rick Reuschel to lead off the 1989 All-Star Game. There was his famous “wall run” when Bo ran up the outfield wall, his body parallel to the ground, after making a catch against the Orioles. There was the image of Bo snapping bats like so many toothpicks over his knee.

And, of course, there was The Throw – when Bo launched a laser from the left-field warning track to nail Seattle’s Harold Reynolds at the plate.

“Bo was great theater,” former general manager Herk Robinson said.

Royals fans nearly witnessed a return to the playoffs in 1994 with Hal McRae at the helm.

McRae and Robinson constructed a team based on the franchise’s old winning formula – pitching and defense. Local favorite David Cone (16-5, 2.94 ERA) dominated on the mound, earning the Cy Young that year.

The team caught fire in late August and rolled off 14 straight wins. Playoff fever returned to Kansas City.

“You could feel the whole city get behind us,” Robinson said after the season.

But with the Royals at 64-51 and just four games out of first place, the players’ strike ended the dream.

“There wasn’t much question in our minds we were going to win the division,” said Bob Hamelin, who was the Rookie of the Year after hitting 24 homers.

“We had the momentum and we had the confidence,” said reliever Jeff Montgomery, who emerged as one of baseball’s top closers in the 1990s. Montgomery, a Royals Hall of Fame member, is the franchise’s all-time leader in saves with 304.

The Royals, who were Baseball America’s Organization of the Year in 1994, struggled to produce winning teams in the following years, yet continued to excite their fans with young talent.

The Royals boasted one of baseball’s best offenses in 1999 and 2000. Beltran was the Rookie of the Year in 1999 after hitting 22 homers with 108 RBIs and 27 stolen bases.

The 2000 team was as potent offensively as any team in club history, setting franchise marks in batting average (.288), runs (879) and hits (1,644). Mike Sweeney, a future Royals Hall of Famer for sure, led the barrage with a .333 average, 29 homers and club-record 144 RBI. Johnny Damon hit .327 and stole 46 bases.

Then in 2003, the Royals nearly pulled off a magical year, led by manager Tony Pena and his wildly popular “Believe” campaign. In fact, “Believe” T-shirts became the ultimate fashion statement in Kansas City that summer.

The Royals opened the season with nine straight wins. And in mid-April, as the team came off a road trip, a largely walk-up crowd of nearly 39,000 at Kauffman Stadium witnessed the excitement of Ken Harvey’s dramatic walk-off homer in the 11th inning to beat Detroit.

The Royals were a first-place team as late as August 9 and finished 83-79.

Now, with 40 years in the books, they seem again poised for another magical run under David Glass, Dayton Moore and skipper Trey Hillman. The Royals won 14 of their final 18 games in 2008, demonstrating to their fans and to the league they are again on the brink of contending.

Once again, like in the glory years, young stars are emerging, stars such as Zack Greinke, Luke Hochevar, Mike Aviles, Joakim Soria, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. That nucleus of young talent will complement proven veterans David DeJesus, Gil Meche, Jose Guillen and newcomer Mike Jacobs.

The pieces are in place again.

“People in the league know they’re going to be tough to handle,” said one rival American League general manager. “Dayton’s got it working and he’s doing it the right way.”

Just the way the Royals started it 40 years ago.