Eight players in the World Series you can't help but root for

If you're a fan of the Kansas City Royals or San Francisco Giants, sorry, this list really isn't for you. We don't expect you to root for anybody on the opposing team in the 2014 World Series, which begins Tuesday night at 8:07 p.m. ET at Kauffman Stadium.

But if you're a baseball fan — even a very casual baseball fan — looking for somewhere to place your rooting interest during baseball's championship series, this list is totally for you.

Do you like players with feel-good comeback stories? This World Series has those. Do you like unlikely heroes? It has that too. Do you like a guy who's paid his dues finally getting a chance on the biggest stage? The World Series has that.

It's even got a joker who's very good at his position, a guy who gives great speeches and a rookie who could make history. (btw, one of those guys smells good too).

Get to know the eight World Series players below, and you might find someone new to root for as the series begins.

TIM HUDSON
The Giants pitcher is playing in his first World Series and is scheduled to start Game 3. Making it to the NLCS was the furthest Hudson, 39, had gone in the playoffs in his 16-year career. Hudson, who is generally liked and respected around MLB, played on good teams with the "Moneyball" Oakland A's and the Atlanta Braves, but had never made it past the LDS round. When the Giants advanced to the World Series, teammates beckoned him to the middle of a clubhouse celebration circle, where he yelled out, "I've been waiting 16 years for this."

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ALEX GORDON
He grew up in Nebraska as a Royals fan, became their first-round draft pick in 2005 and now he's their best player. Alex Gordon, more than anyone on the Royals' roster, is playing for the present and for the past 29 years. He knows how the long-suffering Royals fans feel, after not being in the postseason since 1985. Well, maybe not 100% of how they feel. He's only 30 himself. If this were a big-market team, you could bet we'd be hearing a whole lot more about Gordon trying to deliver a World Series to the team he grew up rooting for.

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TRAVIS ISHIKAWA
The starting left fielder for the San Francisco Giants took quite a path to get back to the World Series. He was drafted by the Giants and came up through their farm system, playing on the 2010 World Series team. He started this year with the Pittsburgh Pirates but was released. The Giants brought him back on a minor-league deal and sent him to Triple-A. Ishikawa pondered retirement after seven years of being a fringe major leaguer. The Giants, it turned out in September, needed a left fielder. They asked Ishikawa, a first baseman by trade, to learn the position and he became their starter in the postseason despite starting only two games there in his career. He proved to be the right guy in the right place in Game 5 of the NLCS, hitting the three-run, walk-off homer that put the Giants in the World Series.

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MIKE MOUSTAKAS
You like a redemption story, don't you? Mike Moustakas, the Royals third baseman, was close to being an MLB "bust." But he has people believing again after a sharp postseason. Moustakas, 26, was the second overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Royals brought him up to the big leagues in 2011 and since then he's hit .236. This year, the Royals sent him back to Triple-A because he was hitting .152. He improved when he came back up, but Moustakas really caught fire in the postseason, hitting four homers and driving in five runs. He also made a couple of sweet defensive plays, including a rail-climbing grab in Game 3 of the ALCS that won't soon be forgotten.

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YUSMEIRO PETIT
He's certainly not the most well-known pitcher on the Giants, but you can argue that he's one of the most important. Petit is the Giants' long reliever, and he's pitched nine crucial innings in the postseason without giving up a run (including six in that 18-inning Giants win in the NLDS). What makes him a guy to root for, though, is that he was out of the MLB for two seasons before the Giants signed him and gave him another chance. He was effective for them in 2013 and helped a lot this season, both out of the bullpen and as a starter. The Giants won Game 4 of the NLCS after his impressive relief appearance. Afterward, he said this postseason has been "the best part of my life."

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BRANDON FINNEGAN
Welcome to the big stage, kid. Brandon Finnegan, 21, is a relief pitcher for the Royals who is playing in his second World Series this year. In June, he pitched in the College World Series for Texas Christian University. Earlier that month, he'd been drafted by the Royals in the first round. They quickly moved him to the big leagues. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 6. If he plays for the Royals in the World Series — and he should, he's pitched in five of their eight postseason games so far — he'll be the first player to appear in the College World Series and MLB World Series in the same year. If that's not enough, he also gave a Royals fan on Twitter playoff tickets.

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HUNTER PENCE
Rooting for Hunter Pence is rooting for the guy who marches to the beat in his head that nobody else hears. Pence throws and swings a little different, sure, but he also speaks from his heart, rallies his teammates and is probably the most interesting guy in the World Series. He has a sense of humor (see the "Hunter Pence Signs" rap video), he rides his scooter home from games and he's the face of the kale garden in centerfield of AT&T Park.

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SALVADOR PEREZ
You can root for Royals backstop Salvador Perez because he's one of the best defensive catchers in the game and because he hit the walk-off single in the AL wild-card that started this wild Royals ride. Or, you can root for him because he's the class clown of the Royals, making goofy videos about teammate Lorenzo Cain and messing with him during media day. Honestly, we think you should root for Perez because he wears women's perfume behind the plate. He says umpires like it.

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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz