Today we were able to see the Kansas City Royals take on the
Oakland Athletics. This was a
great game for many reasons. Right
off the bat, we already felt like we belonged to the game, since we were all
decked out in A’s gear. For the
past two games, we have worn our team jerseys/colors, and we often get strange
looks and questions like “Are you lost?”.
However, today, the A’s were in town, and we made sure to wear every
piece of Athletics gear that we brought.
We arrive at Kauffman Stadium a couple hours before the game
so that we could do a little tailgating.
Sitting in the parking lot, we meet some hilarious Royals fans that
happened to park right next to us.
We chat with them while we finish our Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ that we brought
to the game and begin to grill bacon.
Bacon has a long history between the A’s and the Royals, in particular
Jeff Francoeur, and we made sure that bacon was going to be at the game. Once we finish up in the parking lot
and say good bye to our friends, we head to will call for our tickets.
 |
| Our tailgate buddies. |
A co-worker of mine from the A’s offered to try to help us
get some tickets for the game, and we were notified earlier this week that he
was able to secure four tickets for us.
However, we really didn’t know where these seats were until will entered
the stadium. Boy, we were
surprised when we got to our seats.
We were sitting first row right behind an extension of the dugout, about
even with first base. Needless to
say, we are very grateful and wish as many thanks as possible to Franklin!
 |
| Thanks Fanklin! |
The stadium is beautiful. It has fountains in the outfield and a very small town
ballpark feel. It felt as if we
were sitting in a minor league, or spring training ballpark. Although it was
made more than 40 years ago, it has had some renovations through the years and
still looks like a very new modern stadium. It has wide concourses, and a sleek boomerang design for the
non-bleacher seating areas.
Definitely one of the best stadiums, I have been to.
Once in our seats, we took the bag of bacon that we had and
a sign we made that said, “Jeff, we brought the bacon” and tried to get Francoeur’s
attention. It didn’t take long for
him to notice. Within minutes we
got a tip of the cap from Jeff. It
was a shame, he didn’t take the bacon, but we appreciate the nod all the
same. Once in our seats we settled
in for the game.
Being so close, we were really hoping for a foul ball. It didn’t take long to receive
one. A slow roller dribbled down
the foul line to Waller, the A’s first base coach. Once he looked to the stands to throw the ball away, we all
jumped up with hands outstretched.
Since we were the only A’s fans in the section, once he saw us, he
tossed it over our way. We were
sitting next to a family who was in town celebrating their 50th
wedding anniversary. They had two
little boys there and we handed the ball over to them. They were very grateful. To our surprise, one inning later,
Waller received another foul ball and threw that one our way. And we immediately took it and gave it
to the other little boy. The
family was very grateful, and Bill, the husband who was celebrating, bought us
each a beer as a thank you. We ended
up chatting for a majority of the game after this. And in this time, we were notified from friends that we were
on the TV broadcast back in the Bay Area!
 |
| The four of us with Bill. |
I do have to say, the highlight came when towards the end of
the game, Alcides Escobar, the Royals short stop, ended the inning with the
ball and threw it into the stands.
Little Gregory, one of the boys who we gave a ball to, caught it and
immediately turned to give it to us.
We accepted and were very impressed by the kindness and maturity of the
boy. It was awesome to walk away
from a game with a ball, especially with so many good memories and stories
attached to it.
We finished up the game and stayed to watch the fireworks
afterwards. A great ending to a
great game, event though the A’s didn’t get the win.
Final Score: Royals 2, Athletics 0.
No comments:
Post a Comment