Game #21-Kauffman Stadium-Kansas City Royals vs. Colorado Rockies

Kansas City! What a spectacular city! We spent a few extra days in Kansas City to get the brakes repaired on the fifth wheel. You need brakes...right? Lucky for us we had time to venture out to see what Kansas City commonly called the "City of Fountains" is all about. One thing we discovered was the people are so very friendly and the food is delicious. We went to our brother-in-law's fraternity brothers restaurant, Chicken and Pickle in North Kansas City. It is a restaurant that combines Pickleball and food, which by the way was fantastic. What a great concept! We also toured the Plaza area which has many shops and restaurants. On game day, June 2 we went to the legendary Arthur Bryant's Barbecue for lunch prior to the evening game. Many famous guests have dined at this longtime historical restaurant, even former Presidents Truman, Carter and Obama. We ordered the ribs because that is what experts agree are the most famous. We also had a side of the potato casserole and barbecue beans. It was all finger licking good. If you are looking for fancy then this is not your place, but if your looking for mouth-watering amazing barbecue then you must eat here! With our bellies full we set out to the ballpark. We arrived at 4pm for a 7:10pm game and discovered there was a pregame Celebrity Softball Game beginning at 5:00pm. That was a pleasant surprise. We wondered why when we arrived to the parking lot it was filling up and the lines at the gates were very long. When we got to the line at the gate we chatted with a few people always asking us questions about our t-shirt and our Field of Dreams Tour. We discovered that we picked a great game to attend because of the charity event being held by Big Slick to benefit Children's Mercy Hospital. A few of the celebrities who played were: Jason Sudeikus, Patrick Mahomes, Creed Humphrey, Darius Rucker, Chris Daughtry, David Cook, Al Yankovic. It was wonderful to see people come together to unite for a cause so important...children's health. We sat in the Price Chopper Patio to watch the Celebrity Softball Game which is located in the outfield. It was great because they have very large high-definition TVs which offered better views of the celebrities than our seats. After the softball game we did our normal walk around the ballpark taking in all the special features. Kauffman Stadium is 50 years old and home to the Kansas City Royals who were an expansion team franchise in 1969. So in baseball years they are a very young team. Kauffman Stadium is currently the only American League stadium to be named after a person and not a corporate sponser. The park's best feature I believe is the fountain and waterfall display behind the outfield fence. It is 322 feet and the largest privately funded fountain in the world. The fountains are on before and after the game and in between innings and the waterfalls continuously run. Another feature of the stadium is the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat. The Royals had a red seat placed amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor Buck O'Neil. Buck O'Neil was a player and manager in the Negro American League with the Kansas City Monarchs. He was the first African American coach in Major League Baseball. In order to sit in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat you must be nominated and worked to make a difference in the community. It is one of the biggest honors to sit in that seat. During the third inning the individual in the seat is recognized. Kauffman Stadium also has a Hall of Fame which is in the left field concourse and is free. We visited the Hall of Fame which obviously is much smaller than others we have seen since this is a relatively new ball club. The highlight of the exhibit I felt was the bat and glove exhibit over the years. To see the equipment baseball players used years ago it is a wonder they accomplished catching a ball at all let alone hit as may home runs as the old timers did. On display were the World Series Trophies of 1985 and 2015 and the retired number jerseys of George Brett #5, Dick Howser #10 and Frank White #20. While we were in the Hall of Fame we met a lovely woman who worked there, Nancy. She found us looking at the eight Golden Gloves received by Frank White. She told us a story of the first Golden Glove received in 1977 that was sitting on the self with a few dings in it. She said that Frank White's nephew took it to a little league game he was playing and took the glove off to play ball with it. His coach noticed what he was doing and kept him from using it by offering another glove. Years later that nephew was visiting the Hall of Fame and Nancy saw him staring at the Golden Glove. When she approached him he told her that Frank White was his uncle to which she replied, "Are you the one who took the Golden Glove to your baseball game?" He smiled and said, "Maybe!" Great story! Nancy also was responsible for the hot dog recommendation because Jim told her he wanted a specialty dog not just a plain old hot dog. She told us about Dugout Dog who serve specialty dogs. Just outside the Hall of Fame is an area for families. This area includes a carousel, playground equipment, batting cage and a pitching challenge area. This is the second ballpark we have been to that has a carousel, the first being Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers. Jim and I really liked the enormous scoreboard that is shaped like the Royals logo with a crown on top of it. We liked it because it had so much information in one place. We enjoy seeing the pitch count, pitch speed, mound visits remaining, etc. This scoreboard had it all! Next stop was Dugout Dog to get a Philly Dog from Dugout Dog. This hot dog had toppings of Philly meat, grilled peppers and onions, and cheese wiz. Jim gave it a 7.5. See his Instagram reel @ourfieldofdreams2023. I did not have any food at the ball game because I could not hold another morsel of food due to the giant lunch we had at Arthur Bryant's Barbecue. After the hot dog review, it was off to our seats in time for the National Anthem and starting line up. The Royals had a magnificent violinist play the National Anthem and it raised goose bumps on my arms. It was absolutely one of the most patriotic moments. While waiting for the game to start we chatted with those sitting around us who asked about our Field of Dreams Tour and of course asked the question everyone asks us, "What has been your favorite ballpark?" That's like asking me what's your favorite ice cream....ALL OF THEM! It is so hard to pick one as a favorite as they all are special in their own right. It was close to game time and the mascot Sluggerrr was out and about getting the crowd game ready. We were ready to watch a great game with a crowd of 23,427 fans in stadium with a capacity of 38,427. Not as big of a crowd as I expected for a Friday night but there is the fact that thundershowers are forecasted. Oh and we had some rain drops! First pitch at 7:10 by Royals Jordan Lyles who is 0-9 with a 6.89 ERA. It wasn't long before the Colorado Rockies were on the board with the third of the order, Ryan McMahon at bat. McMahon who is from Yorba Linda near our hometown, hit a homer to right field in the 1st inning. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 0. The Royals had an answer in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Edward Olivares hit a home run. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 1. Then in the bottom of the 3rd inning Drew Waters was first to the plate belting out a four-banger. Score Rockies 1 - Royals 2. It was a showing of some great defense and excellent pitching for the next four innings and the score remained the same. Then in the top of the 8th inning the Royals brought pitcher Carlos Hernandez who struggled and eventually got the hook. It began with a single by Brenton Doyle, a double by Ezequiel Tovar and a Jurickson Profar reaching on a Fielder's choice. Brenton Doyle reaches the plate score now tied at two. It still wasn't over yet for Hernandez but when the next batter Ryan McMahon hit a single bringing in a run it was over. Score Rockies 3 - Royals 2. Hernandez took that tough walk back to the dugout at Royals brought out pitcher Nick Wittgren. It wasn't pretty as the first batter Wittgren faced, Elias Diaz hit a double bringing in two runs. Score Rockies 5 - Royals 2. A single by Randal Grichuk and a double by Nolan Jones would make it Rockies 7 - Royals 2. A very tough inning for the Royals fans to watch. The game would end with a final score of Rockies 7 - Royals 2. This makes it 10 wins for the Home Team and 11 losses for the Home Team on our Field of Dreams Tour. Next up we will see the Colorado Rockies once again in their home field playing my beloved San Francisco Giants. Our daughter Brittany, husband Steven and grandkids Ella and Bennett will be joining us and we will ALL be cheering for the Giants at Coors Field, even Jim. Until next time PLAY BALL!