scoreboardsweep: 2018

KC: City of Fountains AND a team on a down cycle

Kauffman Stadium (and other places)
Kansas City, Missouri
July 23, 2018

Detroit Tigers 5, Kansas City Royals 4

I spent my seventh wedding anniversary in Kansas City enjoying the company of my beautiful bride, Penny. That accounts for the picture at the top of this page, which ordinarily would be a baseball stadium photo - or something along that line. This photo, however, is a shot of Penny standing near the base of the World War I Memorial and Museum, located on a beautifully landscaped hill that offers an impressive view of downtown Kansas City.

The trip to Kansas City was prompted by a visit to Stadium No. 22 in our multi-year quest to see - wait, make that "see a game in" - all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums. We could claim 24 if if all we had to was ride by an empty park. (We did that in Denver and Seattle.) We've also thrown in a few minor league games, by the way.

I should point out - as Penny often reminds me - that this baseball journey was her idea. Men across America are jealous, she adds. That is, no doubt, true.

As has been the case with some destinations, we didn't know what to expect on our trip to Kansas City. Oh, you can read all about the stadiums and follow the standings, which can give you a heads up on some aspects of what to expect at the park. But every park looks different in person than what you've imagined or what you've seen on television and via photos.

The same holds for the cities themselves. You can read all about a city, but until you get there and nose around a little, you don't have a clue what kind of vibe you're going to get. Our trips are short in duration, but certainly long enough to form a seemingly reasonable first impression.

Trivia: Did you know that Kansas City is the City of Fountains? If no, I’m right there with you.

Funny the things you learn, even after you've hit your sixties. You’d think I’d have actually wondered

why, during those Kansas City Royals games I’ve seen on television since the seventies, that the stadium has a bunch of fountains in the outfield. But no. Never questioned it. Not enough intellectual curiosity, I suppose.

Now I’ve seen a Royals game live. We had enviable tickets right behind the third-base dugout, with a nice view of the Kauffman Stadium fountains and waterfalls and the enormous king-crown thing at the top of the enormous scoreboard.

KC is the City of Fountains. Got it now.

Just one evening before, Penny and I had taken a walk through section of the city known as the Country Club Plaza, which is essentially a modern shopping district that evolved from a historic section Kansas City. There are many, many, many fountains and statues in the plaza. It was not bad at all.

We also visited the downtown City Market, which also was not bad. It offered an eclectic group of shops and restaurants, including an Ethiopian diner, where we ate in what made for a first-time dining experience for me - Ethiopian food, I mean. I should add that I'm aware that Kansas City is considered barbecue Mecca. But we missed the barbecue, primarily because Penny is a long-long-time vegetarian, which - in the words of Pulp Fiction's Jules - pretty much makes me a vegetarian. I might have been tempted to cheat for some Kansas City barbecue, but we all make our choices.

I also know that Kansas City is famous for jazz. Aside from a couple of street musicians, one in town and one outside Kauffman Stadium, we missed the music scene - sad to say.

We also intended to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, but it was closed during our time window of opportunity. We took that time to cross state line into Kansas, where we checked out the Kansas City T-Bones stadium. The T-Bones play in the independent American Association, and their

Home of the Kansas City T-Bones

park if phenomenal. The T-Bones, by the way, average more than 4,000 fans a game, which is near the top of all the ranks in minor league attendance.

Kansas City had hills. I had expected mostly flatness.

Regarding expectations generally, I had figured we'd try to find something interesting to do in our off-time, but we would be mesmerized by Kauffman Stadium and seeing the Royals. After all, this is another place that I had seen a million times on television. Watching the World Series games from Kansas City three years ago had seemed nothing short of amazing. And the stadium is located in the suburbs - far out in the suburbs, in fact - on a plot of land that also holds Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs and, allegedly, some of the loudest and tail-gating-est fans in the NLF.

In short, I had no special expectations for Kansas City, but plenty for the Royals.

Well, the Royals experience was ... ok. Nothing special, unfortunately. In fact, on our trip Penny and I concluded separately that we truly enjoyed the city of Kansas City, but Kauffman Stadium did not rank high on our we-d really-like-to-go-back-there list.

I can't seem to pinpoint exactly what the issues were. Whereas a small-town feel, compared to other venues, might not be such a bad thing, our experience was that it was a little too small-time - even with the scoreboard with the crown thing on top, which is roughly the size of Delaware. Ushers and other stadium officials were friendly, kind of in the manner that a Walmart greeter is friendly. By that I mean we generally got smiles; but when we asked a few questions about the stadium, we got a "can't really help you with that one" response. Easy questions, I might add.

A group of fans wanted to enter the Royals Hall of Fame museum, which is opened every game an hour prior to the first pitch. It was closed. No one knew why. Not even stadium officials, who eventually informed us that they weren't aware of this, but apparently it had been rented for the evening by a private company. It should be open sometime after the first inning, but, sorry, it will be closed at the end of the seventh inning.

Penny told a stadium manager, "We came halfway across the country to see a game here. We came to the park when the gates opened, so we could see your Hall of Fame AND not miss any of the game."

We received an Amos Otis bobble-head doll as an appeasement gift. Ah, the joys of the small-town feel.

Baseball, however, almost always delivers. The game was interesting, as baseball often is, even when played by two teams with sub-.500 records. The Royals are actually dreadful this year, but they entered the game with the Tigers on a three-game winning streak, having just swept the Twins.

And life looked good again for the Royals. Rookie Heath Fillmyer was dazzling for seven innings. The Royals held a 4-2 lead going into the ninth when veteran Brandon Mauer gave up three straight hits without recording an out. Four-to-three, just like that. Two men on. Mauer gave way to Jason Hammel, who gave up a rocket-shot double that scored two runs. Five-four Tigers.

Game over.

***

Welcome to the City of Fountains! There are more than 40 public fountains in the city. It was so hot when we got there Sunday, we decided to skip the Sunday afternoon game and do some sight seeing.

We stayed at the Hilton by the Country Club Plaza. The Plaza is an outdoor shopping mall that opened in 1923 and is supposed to mimic the architecture of Seville, Spain. It is full of luxury shops, along with regular retail and unique shops. There are more than 30 Statues, murals and tile mosaics, as well as many fountains. Someone told us it was built to accommodate car parking, which was forward thinking in 1923.

We took the streetcar from Union Station to the City Market. Just a word of advice: A lot of the places at the market are closed on Monday. The streetcar is free, and it is an easy way to get from one area to the next. We ended up eating at a great Ethiopian place at The City Market.

We also visited the Toy and Miniature Museum. I'm not sure how I feel seeing my childhood toys in a museum! The miniature exhibits are amazing. It is well worth the $5 fee.

Another must-see is the WWII monument and museum. The view at the top is stunning!

Since we were close, we drove over to Kansas and went to the minor league stadium of the Kansas T-Bones. It was a really nice stadium and, although we didn't see a game there, we enjoyed walking around the park.

We really enjoyed the city, and I guess it is a good thing we did. The stadium was a disappointment. At least, to me it was.

You must drive to the stadium. Like Philly and Milwaukee, the stadium is out of town. Randy and I have both decided we like in-town stadiums. It is a lot more fun to walk to the stadium or take a metro than to drive. Whatever you do, do not make a wrong turn. The parking lot attendant will severely reprimand you!

The stadium is known for it's outfield fountain Water Spectacular. The water fall flows constantly and the fountains display before and after the game and between innings. There are several statues at the stadium.

The Kaufmanns, founders and first owners of the Royals

Dick Howser, Royals Hall of Fame, Manager 1981-1987

Frank White, Jr. Eight career Golden Gloves

George Brett, Royals Hall of Famer

The Hall of Fame was closed for a private event. Believe me, we tried everything, but getting into the HOF did not happen for us. No one we questioned seemed to know what was going on. Customer services didn't even know it wasn't open. The text for help number assured me it was open - until I emailed the picture to them. I was pretty disappointed, but not enough to leave the game after it started in order to go inside. I hate to say, it but no one seemed to care that we traveled across the county and did't get to go in.

The red seat in honor of Buck O'Neil. Each game someone who represents the O'Neil spirit sits in the seat. O'Neil played for the Monarchs of the Negro League from 1937-1955.