Last weekend, Rita and I celebrated our 40th anniversary with a staycation at the Crossroads Hotel. It got off to a nice start on Friday evening when we met Richard Martin for drinks in the hotel bar. The Royals were on TV and we saw them score nine runs in the first inning. After winning that game, the Royals were three games over .500 and two games away from a Wild Card slot. Continue reading
In local baseball news…
The Royals have rebounded from the losing streak and are back to .500 ball. Thank goodness. Below, in their Monarchs uniforms for MLB’s Salute to the Negro Leagues last Sunday, Royals players gleefully await Carlos Santana after his walk-off homer. Continue reading
I normally would not hit your inbox so quickly again, but this message is time sensitive.
This past Saturday night, Rita and I attended the Lyric Opera performance of Baseball: A Musical Love Letter.
It was delightful. On so many levels.
The time sensitive issue: There are only three more performances. This coming Thursday (7:30), Friday (7:30) and Saturday (2:00). The performances are in the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building in the East Crossroads area – entrance at 18th and Charlotte. Continue reading
From 1985 to 1997, a group of fans gathered in Kansas City to participate in a draft for a “Home Run Derby.” Steve Roling won the trophy three times, so the trophy was named “The Rolling Cup” (Steve’s name being misspelled). Then the Derby went dormant for 23 years. Roling kept the trophy and sent this recent photo. Continue reading
On April 1, the 2021 MLB season began. On April 2, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta. The broader story dates back to 1963.
Atlanta, Coca-Cola and Henry Aaron (1963-2021): In July of 1963, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen did something that almost no Southern politician would do. He testified before Congress in support of civil rights legislation. “We cannot dodge this issue. We cannot…turn the clock back to the 1860s.” Continue reading
Tomorrow is April 1. April Fools’ Day. Not kidding.
More importantly…it will be Opening Day for the Royals!
And unlike last year, the Royals season is starting on time (and pleasingly over-budget, thanks to some free-agent spending by John Sherman and his co-owners). Continue reading
As previously reported, Rita and I are thrilled to have our Pfizer vaccination shots.
And now we have an added reason to celebrate – Kauffman Stadium will have fans in the stands this season. Can’t wait to get back to the K. Continue reading
The position players have now joined the pitchers and catchers, spring training is in full swing. In the words of the great reliever and poet Dan Quisenberry…
Rituals of spring training
Running of sprints
A gaggle of grown men laughing at sore muscles
Omnipresence of coaches, general managers, fans, scouts…
If I close my eyes and listen
I hear the pop of ball hitting bat
Ball smothered in loved leather
And even the whoosh of ball
Spinning with raised seams cutting through air
We are now in the “Sports Gap” in Kansas City. The time frame between the last Chiefs game and the start of Royals spring training. For more years than I care to remember, the gap was about five weeks because the Chiefs were either not in the playoffs or made an early exit if they were. But in the Mahomes era, the Sports Gap has shortened, first in 2019 when the Chiefs made it to the AFC championship game. Then, in the 2020 and 2021 Super Bowl seasons, the gap was reduced to a mere 10 days. I prefer short gaps. Continue reading
