I’ve been in the process of moving these last few weeks, which left me without internet at home for a good chunk of time. This has made it difficult to keep up with things, including baseball and this blog. I did have the opportunity to attend my first Royals game of the season this past Thursday, April 21st, and I witnessed the Royals’ 4-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers. I intended to write something of more substance about the occasion, but as it has now been a few days since that game, I will instead settle for merely posting the pictures I took.
For starters, we wandered through the Royals Hall of Fame. Here are a handful of the bobble heads on display. My own collection needs some work…
I also had the opportunity to see the World Series trophy. In retrospect, I regret that I didn’t jump in the line to get my picture taken with it.
It was great to be back in Kauffman Stadium with the beautiful fountains. The strong winds of the day caused the water to blow all over.
The game itself was a blast, and we were lucky in that the fans around us weren’t too obnoxious. Plus, the weather that night was absolutely beautiful.
And, as always, it’s always fun to watch the home team win!
The sea of royal blue reflected what one would expect to observe in the crowd at a typical Kansas City Royals game. The warmth of the progressing day had already begun penetrating the cool morning air as my stepmom, Dawn, and I stood in the parking lot of the Truman Sports Complex. Carefully, I pinned the blue and white paper bib to the front of my tank top as Dawn surveyed the crowds filing towards Kauffman Stadium. Already, I could feel the inserts in my running shoes digging into my heels, but according to the podiatrist, they would help ease the strain put on my Achilles and knee. After sustaining an Achilles injury (which subsequently also became a knee injury) in a four-mile race I ran in early-July — and finding myself unable to run at all for a solid month — I wanted to take every precaution. Still, it made me nervous that I had only resumed running less than two weeks ago, and here I now stood, preparing to take on another race.
I learned about the Royals Charities 5K a few months ago, sitting in Kauffman Stadium and watching pre-game entertainment as the Royals went through their warm-ups. Even though I’ve been running on and off since I was thirteen, I only made my debut into the world of racing last summer, and I discovered that I loved it: the competition, pushing oneself in spite of the elements and the obstacles, the training and the culmination of that training in a race-worthy performance. The ad for the Royals 5K particularly caught my attention when it mentioned the opportunity to run on the field. I typed the address to the website into my phone and pulled it up as soon as I arrived back home that evening.
The first thing I looked up was the course map, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would sign up:
The fact that all the money raised would go towards a good cause (most races are also well-intentioned fundraisers) provided icing on the cake. I submitted my registration and continued my training. Given the timing of the race, and knowing that the course would be a relatively-flat one, I anticipated that this would be the race where I would set a new personal best.
The injury threw up a huge roadblock towards this goal. The course for the four-mile race I participated in on July 4th did not have quite-so-flat a course — in fact, much of the time, we ran at a slight incline. A month later, the podiatrist confirmed that this likely caused the strain and inflammation on my Achilles, and possibly my knee as well. He recommended that I invest in the shoe inserts and prescribed an anti-inflammatory, but otherwise said that I was okay to resume running. My Achilles, while still not 100%, no longer ached and had regained enough strength from all the rest I’d given it. While my knee continues to remain touch-and-go with regards to the pain, upon resuming my street running, I discovered that so long as I keep my steps short, the pain in my knee diminishes greatly and I can otherwise continue running like normal.
Unfortunately, I also discovered that in my time off, I had also lost a lot of cardiovascular endurance, and this was my biggest concern going into Saturday’s race. The farthest distance I ran since my return was the 2.5-mile run I completed last Wednesday, and that last half-mile left me huffing and puffing like a heavy smoker on a treadmill. Still, I had finished the run without stopping, my knee and ankle were feeling great, and I felt ready to take on 3.1 miles.
We arrived at the stadium about 7:30 a.m., and I warmed up in the time remaining before the 8:00 start. With about ten minutes until race time, I made my way to the starting line with the other runners. I found the sign that indicated “8 minutes” (meaning an 8-minute-per-mile pace) and lined up a little behind it. I realized that this was an optimistic estimate, given my time off, but I also knew that in a crowd of 2,500 runners, the pace was likely to start slow regardless. Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio served as emcee for the race proceedings. We were treated to a phenomenal performance of the national anthem, which was capped by a flyover treat.
Photo by Dawn Sanders
Then finally, the gun was fired and the race began. As I anticipated, the starting line was so crowded that I walked a good part of the way towards the actual starting line. But much to my delight, I was able to start jogging in the last few feet leading up to the chip timing sensor and settled into a comfortable pace shortly thereafter.
Kansas City Royals
After the race, Dawn commented on the wide diversity of runners that she observed participating, and there’s a lot of truth to that observation. You find people who live and breathe running, casual competitors like myself, people who are trying to lose weight and get in shape, and plenty of people who participate simply for the experience of walking the course. And when you observe a race with a particular overriding theme, you even find some interesting racing get-ups, such as this Mike Moustakas fan:
Kansas City Royals Facebook
Much of the course turned out as expected: a relatively flat, giant loop around the parking lot of the Truman Sports Complex. It proved itself a good course for my joints and for my recovering cardio, and I managed to maintain a respectable pace throughout. However, going into the race, I had wondered how we were to enter the field for the final leg of the course, but I didn’t find out for certain until that moment came. That part of the race proved a blessing at first, but ended as a curse. We entered the stadium through a gate in the right field corner, which then took the runners down a ramp. Going down the ramp provided a momentary respite, allowing me the opportunity to glide at the same pace on less effort. Returning to charge back up the ramp later, however, I cursed my luck as my legs burned and my lungs cried.
Kansas City Royals (from the 2013 Royals Charities 5K)
Once we had descended the ramp and ran through the stifling hot tunnel that followed, however, we finally entered the field for the lap around the warning track. And what an experience! The warning track felt solid beneath my feet, in spite of the dirt. The Royals mascot, Sluggerrr, stood in the middle of the track, high-fiving runners as they passed. Looking down to my left, I could see the meticulous upkeep of the grass, each rich-green blade perfectly trimmed to the specified height. Looking up, I found myself wishing I had a camera on me to take pictures — some people stopped their run to do just that — but I knew that no photo I could ever take would capture the magnitude of what I found myself experiencing right then.
I’ve heard that the experience of standing at ground level in a baseball stadium is like standing in a cathedral, but the truth and depth of that description never sank in like it did as I jogged around that warning track. Sure, I’ve been to Kauffman Stadium and various other baseball venues numerous times, and one of my favorite experiences is sitting the stands at the K while they are still fairly empty, soaking in the atmosphere as I study the field, the stands, and the players. But being on the field itself is a different experience altogether.
I have had the opportunity in my life to see some pretty fantastic cathedrals, to experience the grandeur and the beauty of those spaces and what they stand for. This experience reflected that feeling in a myriad of ways. The size of the field and the size of the stadium around me as a whole made me feel like an insignificant being on its own. Then, when I considered what it all stood for — the Royals, the history, the game of baseball itself — I felt absolutely dwarfed by comparison. A part of me wanted to yell something to see if my voice would echo through the empty stands, but one does not call out so audaciously in a temple such as this. I tried to imagine the experience of standing on that field with the stands full of roaring fans, but failed to fully form the image in my mind. The experience of the stands sitting empty around me overwhelmed my senses enough on its own.
Kansas City Royals Facebook
All good things must come to an end, however, and I came to the end of my lap around the warning track. In my reverie, I nearly missed the one last treat provided to runners before I exited the field. A camera set up near the dugouts projected the images of runners as they passed onto Crown Vision, and I turned just in time to see my giant form run by on the screen overlooking the stadium. I passed through the steaming tunnel once again and then turned up the ramp for the laborious trip back up to street level.
Upon reaching the summit of the ramp, I still had a few hundred feet to go to reach the finish line. In most races, this is the point where I break into an all-out sprint, but my final kick was delayed momentarily as I struggled through the residual pain of that up-ramp battle. I worked through it, however, and — reminding myself to keep my steps short — picked up the pace until I was running as fast as I could across the finish line, the struggle apparently showing all over my face.
Photo by Dawn Sanders
The festivities did not end there, however. This guy stood at the finish line, congratulating runners on their victorious finishes:
Photo by Dawn Sanders
Runners were treated to a remarkable spread of food, provided by Hy-Vee, in the post-race proceedings. I finally removed the inserts from my shoes, which made my shoes feel strangely loose around my feet. I also acquired a stress ball from the University of Kansas Sports Medicine & Performance Center, another race sponsor, which looks like a baseball.
Dawn and I stuck around long enough to find the results being posted along the gates. Given the injuries and the time off from running, I had kept my expectations for this race relatively low. I made it my goal to finish in thirty minutes or less, and my official time turned out to be 26:48. It is still a good minute slower than my personal best, but all things considered, I felt very pleased with this result.
It probably goes without saying, but this event proved well-worth the time and the registration fee that I put towards it. Besides, I also received this awesome T-shirt out of the deal, and who am I to complain about that?
I have to confess: after years of rooting for a losing team in a half-empty stadium, I continue to feel off-balance about this new era in Royals baseball. Kauffman Stadium fills up nightly, I see more Royals T-shirts and jerseys walking around than I have ever seen before, and the team is even inspiring some music production. This tune really isn’t my style, typically, and I’m pretty sure the only reason I find it catchy is because it’s about my team. I do particularly enjoy the visuals out of the stadium in the video, though.
The Royals managed to break a 3-game losing streak yesterday, defeating the Rangers 4-3. The win also broke a losing streak for me, as this was the first victory I was able to see in person this year.
With no promotions to entice me to the ballpark early (except Kansas State University day, and I’m not a K-State fan), and due to my laziness in getting up and around yesterday morning, I arrived at the ballpark a mere 45 minutes before game time. I had to park in the farthest spot from the K that I’ve ever had to park. Having attended games even throughout the Royals’ rough years, it is still strange to me arriving even when I did that I should have to park so far away. That is another benefit of low attendance: better parking, and less stress leaving when the game is finished. This is hardly a complaint, however, as I intentionally view my trips to the K as relaxing time, so even the extra time it takes to walk to and from my car and to deal with traffic I see as a chance to slow down mentally. It gives one the opportunity to take in the sensory experience, too — the early summer heat surrounding the event, the smell of hot dogs on tailgating grills, the sounds of parking lot games, and the smell of grease as one approaches the stadium.
To my surprise, the ballpark was only half-full by the time I took my seat, though it filled up quickly in the last twenty-or-so minutes before the game. I suppose that many folks in attendance were like me, with no incentive to arrive early for K-State day. My crowd experience was much more pleasant than the last game I attended, as the people whom I noticed not paying attention to the game were at least a couple rows away from me. This was also the first game where I’ve observed the ushers actually enforcing seating, as at one point a large, yellow-shirted man chased down a couple girls with smirks on their faces, demanding to see their tickets. The fuller a stadium gets, the more important it becomes for people to sit where they’re supposed to sit.
Jeremy Guthrie had another great start — it’s refreshing to see him have two consecutive good starts given how rough his season has been prior to now. The top of the seventh did give me a bit of a scare, however, when the Rangers put up a three-spot to tie the game. A friend of mine texted to me at that point, “Now this feels like it’s going to be a loss :(.” I, however, had come into this game determined that the Royals were going to win and I would end my losing streak, so I refused to agree. After all, the game was only tied.
I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but I have to admit that I do get that way just a little bit when it comes to sports. At one point last year, it seemed like every time I tuned into a Royals game, they lost. So for two weeks straight, I refused to turn a game on until it seemed like it didn’t matter whether I was watching or not. Going into yesterday, a part of me feared that I was jinxing their chances for victory, but I decided that I would refuse to believe that they would lose, no matter what. A part of me feels that this resolve is what got the win, as cheesy as that sounds.
Salvador Perez was the hero once again, sending a solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the eighth. During his post-game interview, the crowd erupted in a chant of, “Sal-VEE! Sal-VEE!” The crowd lingered more than usual after a game. It’s nice to bask in a victory, once in a while.
I made it out to the Royals game last night, as they took on the Indians in the first game of the series. It was also T-shirt Tuesday, and in hopes of snagging one of the “Forever Royal” T-shirts, I made it out to Kauffman Stadium about an hour before the gates opened, which is by far the earliest I have ever arrived at any event. The stadium concourse seemed like a ghost town.
I was early enough to have the opportunity to watch the Indians have batting practice, but apparently not early enough to watch the Royals. I suppose this was okay, as there is rarely anything too exciting about batting practice. I picked up a beer and a copy of Royals Baseball Insider, and sat back to enjoy myself. Kauffman Stadium is one of my favorite place to relax, and the time leading up to the game is the best time to do this, as the stands are still relatively empty.
Unfortunately, my sense of relaxation was not to last. The game started, and the seats to my right were still empty. The occupiers of those seats finally did show up in the bottom of the first inning. It was a family, and while they seemed more concerned with talking to each other than they did about the game, it was still a minor enough situation that I could easily ignore them.
About the fourth inning, however, the family in the row in front of us left, and when it became evident that they would not return, the lady next to me invited other people–apparently more family–to take those seats. This was when the feelings of annoyance began to set in. Instantly, I had a full-blown family fun time session going on right next to me, and little of rambunctiousness had anything to do with what was going on out on the field. Around the seventh inning, when the couple to my left got up and never returned, I moved down a seat to put some distance between myself and this family. My sense of peace and concentration was short-lived, however, as the same lady invited even more family over, and they settled into the remaining empty seats to my left.
I was now surrounded.
The rest of the game, I had a very difficult time focusing on the field, as I had to put up not only with the unrelated noise pollution, but also items and kids being passed back and forth in front of me. I had to bite my tongue against the urge to point out that this was a baseball game, and if that was not why these folks had come to the K, they needed to take their family reunion elsewhere. As much as I enjoy the Royals winning, this is easily my least favorite part of it all — the influx of new “fans” who go to games because it’s suddenly “cool,” not because of baseball.
Unfortunately, the Royals’ performance did little to raise my spirits. While it was refreshing to see Jeremy Guthrie have a good outing for a change, Wade Davis’s performance was quite a downer, and the Royals left far too many men stranded on base. The whole experience felt like one of those “and all I got was this T-shirt” moments.
There will be many more Royals games to come. Hopefully, this will be the worst of them.
The last few moments of the 2014 Royals season didn’t turn out the way that I hoped that they would. Indeed, falling a mere ninety feet from tying up Game 7 of the World Series proved heartbreaking as a Royals fan, especially considering that, in the twenty years that I have rooted for this team, this is the first season in which they even achieved a playoff berth. The last time they did so, I wasn’t old enough to even grasp the concept, much less to root for a team.
I didn’t make it to as many games as I would have liked this past summer, but each trip to the K remains as memorable as ever. As the season progressed, and the Royals continued to hold their own, bouncing between first and second place in the division, I watched the crowd at Kauffman grow increasingly larger and more rambunctious. I’m generally a pretty introverted person, but there is something about a stadium full of people cheering devotedly for its team that evokes a sense of solidarity in me. I had the privilege of attending Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, and never before in my life had I seen so much blue in one place. That, combined with the energy that emanated from the crowd, made me fall in love with the stadium and the Royals all over again.
As the regular season came to an end, I found myself checking the standings daily, sometimes more. The Royals had a shot at winning the division, but if they didn’t, it was also a close race in the fight for a Wild Card spot. When the Royals made the Wild Card, I cheered at the prospect of a “Blue October,” not realizing just how true this prediction would become.
My October flooded with late nights, which culminated in exhaustion as I no longer slept enough each night. Many times, especially when games went into extra innings, my adrenaline would get pumping so hard that, even when the final out was made or the winning run was scored, I wouldn’t be able to sleep right away. I exchanged numerous excited texts, phone calls, and emails with friends and family as the Royals not only won the Wild Card, but went on to sweet the Angels and the Orioles, en route to their first World Series in almost thirty years.
When the World Series won, I prayed that the Royals’ winning streak would continue, but was unsurprised when it did not. Streaks, as we all know, are fickle, and they are always broken sooner or later. The roller coaster of the series as a whole put me on the edge of my seat throughout. When the Giants took a 3-2 lead, I found myself filled with a curious combination of dread and confidence. When the Royals came back in Game 6 with a whopping 10-0 victory, I knew that Game 7, with the possibility of Madison Bumgarner making an appearance out of the bullpen, would be close. I just hoped that Bumgarner would be too exhausted following his complete game performance in Game 5 to pitch more than an inning or two.
This is where I, and the Royals, fell short. Once again, Bumgarner wowed the baseball world with a first-class performance, and the Royals simply could not figure out how to make anything happen offensively. When Alex Gordon landed on third base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, I started to shake with hope and anxiety. Surely Salvador Perez could pull off the late-inning heroics just one more time, right? But, alas, it was not to be, as Salvi popped out to end this amazing run of a season.
I turned off the television immediately following the final out of the game, having no desire to have the loss drilled in any deeper, but come Thursday morning, I was pleased to learn that fans in attendance at the K had broken out in a chant of, “Thank you, Royals!” It truly was a season to remember, and while I have been a baseball fan for most of my life, my love for the game increased two-fold this year. And, yes, I have the Kansas City Royals to thank for that.
Kauffman Stadium during the National Anthem, ALCS Game 3
The Royals have had a roller coaster of a season thus far, comprising of a few sharp ups and a lot of downs. They had just climbed their way back to .500 going into yesterday’s game, the finale of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium. They could no longer win the series, having fallen behind 2-1, but I hoped at least for a 2-2 split and a return to a winning record.
The Royals had a couple promotions going on at the K: “Dressed to the Nines” to salute the 1920s, which encouraged fans to dress in their Sunday best at the ballpark; and a salute to the Negro Leagues, in which the Royals wore Kansas City Monarchs uniforms, and the Orioles dressed as the Baltimore Black Sox. Fans arriving early received a fedora in celebration of both these tributes. It felt like a costume party in some ways (and, really, I suppose it was), seeing the grounds crew in suspenders and fans in three-piece suits and sun dresses.
The weather created a perfect day for baseball: warm sunlight and a cool breeze — perfect for dressing up or for the t-shirt and jeans combo worn by lazy folk like us. When the air stilled, we could feel our skin grow hot under the sun, but when the breeze picked up, goosebumps emerged. It never grew too hot nor too cool. We picked up our Kansas City Monarchs fedoras at the gate and climbed on up to the cheap seats. A mere crowd of 22,000 showed up at the K for the game, and those fans who had opted out in favor of other plans missed out on a spectacular show.
Leading the team to victory with two three-run home runs, Alex Gordon had what writers and commentators are calling a “career day.” And why not? In addition to his six RBIs, Gordon went 4-for-4 and made a spectacular defensive catch, crashing, once again, into the wall in left field. He fully deserved the curtain call demanded by the crowd following his second homer. The novelty of the moment struck me as well, for while I have seen deserving performances on television on multiple occasions, Gordon’s curtain call yesterday became the first I’ve ever witnessed in person.
Things became interesting in the top of the ninth, however. With the Royals up 8-3, Aaron Crow took the mound to close out the game. What should have been an easy nail in the coffin turned into a nail biter, as a walk and a single set the table for Adam Jones to hit a three-run home run of his own. With the score now at 8-6, Crow was out, and the Royals brought in Greg Hollander, who drew the final two outs for the save and the victory.
I’m generally not a superstitious individual, but I feel it worth a mention that the Royals have won the last four games that I have attended. I attribute this success to my lucky black Royals cap, which I actually picked up at a game as a promotional giveaway more than ten years ago. I have a couple other Royals caps that I could wear to games that I attend, but they say you should never mess with a winning streak. The black cap will continue to go to games with me until this streak ends.
The aroma of hot dogs and brats on the grill greeted my nose as my shoes hit the asphalt of the parking lot. I arrived at the Truman Sports Complex after the hour-long trip from my home in eastern Kansas, parking in front of Arrowhead Stadium. The red and white sign reading “CHIEFS” glared down at me, beckoning, but I had another destination. I turned south and joined the streams of fans trickling towards neighboring Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals were in the midst of a hot streak with four straight wins. It was a much-needed respite from the struggles of the early weeks of the season, through which many of Kansas City’s disgruntled fans had lost faith, once again, in this oh-so-promising-but-not-quite-there team. On this Saturday, I finally made it in for my first game of the season, still hopeful — always hopeful — that the streak will not only continue, but will spark an exciting, playoff-bound season.
At the gate, friendly, but determined, staff members waited, armed with a barricade of tables and metal detector wands. Standing in line, I recalled news reports about the incident in 2000, when someone fired three random shots into Kauffman Stadium during a game between the Royals and the Pirates, allegedly firing from I-70. One shot hit an empty seat in the upper deck, and another shot hit the back of the scoreboard.
The third shot, however, hit a woman in the lower deck. That woman sued the Royals for not ensuring that no guns made it into the stadium, in spite of the evidence that the shots came from without. The Royals managed to settle with the woman. However, the after-effects of this and other incidents throughout the country continue to show today in the form of these security checks.
Arriving at the front of the line, I set my ball cap, media guide, and the contents of my pockets on the table and followed the routine of holding my arms out to allow the staff member to pass the wand over both the front and back of my person. As I collected my belongings and refilled my pockets, I was astonished to hear a bright, “Hi, Precious!”
Working the turnstiles stood one of my high school math teachers. I recalled that, even when I was still in high school, she worked Royals games during the summers. Honestly, it seems strange that I never bumped into her at the K before Saturday. We caught up a bit — as much as seems appropriate when you haven’t seen someone for over a decade and a line of ticket-holders stands behind you — and I continued on into the stadium.
A swirl of people, food, voices, music, and paraphernalia bombarded my senses. I found my seat, way up in the upper deck over left field. Sitting down, I remembered why I love going to the ballpark so much. I felt a sense of calm in my seat, especially with an hour remaining to game time, but also a sense of anticipation. Americans have a variety of different reasons for going out to watch a baseball game. Some go out of a sense of duty to root for the home club. Some go for the sake of entertainment or out of a sense of boredom. Others go because their friends extended an invitation, and it is the “cool” or “in” thing to do at the moment. And some go purely because they love baseball. I like to think that I fall into this last category.
Pre-game batting practice at Kauffman Stadium
The game wasn’t a clean or pretty one. After giving up two runs to the Minnesota Twins in the early innings, the Royals rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the fifth, they gave up two more, which put fans from both sides on edge for the rest of the game. Alex Gordon continued his hot streak with three hits, and Billy Butler continued his climb out of a slow start by collecting two hits of his own. Danny Duffy, meanwhile, continued his dominance coming out of the bullpen. No more runs crossed the plate after the fifth inning, and the Royals won 5-4.
The radio talk show I listened to following the game pretty much nailed it: the Twins’ shoddy defense gave the Royals the victory. From a missed catch in the outfield to an overthrown ball in an attempt to stop a double-steal, the Twins could not seem to find their stride with the leather.
Twins fans sat in the row in front of me as well as in the row behind me, which made for an interesting dynamic. Depending on the events of the contest, one section of the stands grew quiet while the other cheered and clapped. Several rows below me, a group of young men in the midst of a bachelor’s party became intermittently rowdy throughout the game. And, of course, Kauffman Stadium provided all kinds of other entertainment, from food to music to hot dog races (I love rooting for Ketchup, and Ketchup won that day!) to all kinds of other contests and silly games. While the purist in me wishes the focus would remain solely on baseball, even I can’t deny that the ballpark provides pretty catchy entertainment between innings.
The victory brought the Royals to a five-game winning streak and put them in a virtual tie for first place in the AL Central. The high of it all proved short-lived, however, as they lost game three to the Twins on Sunday, 8-3, in a particularly brutal affair. The same radio show that held my attention after Saturday’s game ranted about the fickleness of fans, and how baseball, like life, would always have its ups and downs. Sure, there might be a bad game or a bad week, but ball clubs, just like people, don’t just throw in the towel because of that. You keep fighting to improve. And, who knows? You just might look around one day and find yourself in first place, even if just for a little while.
We interrupt our regular programming for this brief post of pure self-indulgence.
A friend and I attended the Mariners-Royals game in Kansas City two nights ago. For the last run of Wednesday home games for the Royals, Kauffman Stadium has set aside a section of seats dubbed “GordoNation,” a fan section devoted to KC’s All-Star left fielder Alex Gordon. In addition to a seat right by Gordon’s defensive stomping grounds, fans in the section receive a GordoNation T-shirt, which, as you can see, is a pretty nifty piece of apparel. Last night, however, I received a bonus souvenir when, after his warm-up tosses prior to the top of one of the earlier innings, Gordon tossed his baseball into the crowd off to my right. The ball bounced from fan to fan, juggled amongst futile attempts to grab it. Before I even had a chance to fully grasp what was going on, I realized that the ball had started rolling slowly away from the crowd and right towards me.
Without hesitating, I scooped it up, and the flurry of excitement of the crowd to my right ended in a groan. My first Major League baseball. I was so pleased that I could feel myself grinning like a goofus as I ran my fingers over the laces of my latest souvenir. Unfortunately, the Royals lost 6-4 that night, as Aaron Crow gave up a two-run home run in the top of the ninth, breaking the 4-4 tie. But at least I didn’t walk away empty-handed!
