Mr. K was the heart and soul of a franchise that began its rise to prominence in the mid-'70s, when the Royals won several AL West titles but seemingly always ran into (and lost to) the Yankees in the playoffs. In 1980, the Royals and their charismatic on-field leader, the immensely legendary George Brett, broke though and beat (swept in three games, actually) the Yankees in the AL Championship Series...only to lose the World Series in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Finally, in 1985, the Mr. K's Royals snatched baseball's crown, winning the World Series over their cross-state rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, in seven mostly riveting and sometimes controversial games. The World Series win was either the greatest or second-greatest moment in Kansas City sports history, with only the Chiefs' upset of the Minnesota Vikings in Super B0wl IV to rival it. The fact that the Series victory came over the traditionally successful Cardinals, the standard bearers of baseball in the Midwest for most of the 20th century (and most of the 21st, too), was especially satisfying for KC fans. It was the greatest moment in Royals history.
The Royals haven't made the playoffs since. They were competitive into the early '90s but soon faded into Major League oblivion. It's a long, sad tale, but Mr. K's death in 1993, an unfortunate transfer of ownership, and the baseball strike of 1994 left the Royals a battered franchise. They've been among the worst teams in baseball for the last 15 years, and this season is no different--they're currently 31 games under .500 and battling the Washington Nationals to avoid (or achieve?--that first draft pick would help) the worst record in baseball.
It stands to reason, then, that the Royals renovated Kauffman Stadium--which was actually Royals Stadium until about a month before Mr. K died--and essentially opened what was in effect a brand-new park for the 2009 season. Struggling teams need ballparks that will attract fans, facilities that can pull them in with diversions that don't have anything to do with what's going on on the field. (Plus, a nice, new park sends a message to free agents that a team is serious about competing--even if KC's relatively low payroll and generally inept ownership don't.)
The "New K," as folks in KC call it, technically isn't new--it sits where the old stadium sat and is really just a renovated facility. But the word "renovation" doesn't really seem appropriate here--evidently, from what Royals fans say, the club pretty much gutted the place and rebuilt it from the ground up. And it's a masterpiece--a fitting tribute to Ewing Kauffman's legacy.
The defining feature of the "old" stadium was the fountains that flowed just beyond the center-field wall. Kansas City is the city of fountains, after all, with more fountains per capita (or per square foot, or per square mile, or something like that) than any other city in the world. (No, really, there's some statistic to that effect--I just don't remember what it is. Anyway, there are a lot of fountains.)
KC is actually a lovely city aside from a few rough neighborhoods, the likes of which exist, unfortunately, in pretty much every American city. KC's ever-improving Downtown, with its charming and authentic late-1800s feel, is full of pleasant surprises and trendy areas (for those who know Fort Worth, think of a larger version of Sundance Square), and the Plaza and Crown Center areas are fantastic--arguably world-class, especially in the case of the Plaza.
Anyway, the New K has kept the fountains flowing, offering a rushing-water sound in the outfield that's oddly pleasant and relaxing (and, unfortunately, fairly audible, given that the Royals don't pack the park very often these days).
The New K is intimate without being suffocating and spacious without feeling soulless. That's the beauty of it. Fans can actually circumnavigate the park without leaving it, and the corridors seemed wide enough to accommodate a park full of fans, if the Royals could ever manage to have one. There were plenty of bathrooms and lots of beer and food stands, and the team store (always important to a souvenir junkie like me) was nothing short of fantastic.
Kansas City is a lovely city that probably doesn't get the attention it deserves as a great American destination. And since the poor Royals are so awful, the New K doesn't get much time on national TV. But both places are worth visiting--and I'd love to go back to both. (One huge thing that I forgot to mention about the New K: it's a pretty car-dependent stadium, but that means that there are huge, often empty parking lots that are perfect for tailgating...one of the great traditions of American sports and an activity not possible at many ballparks. Nice.)
I loved the New K so much, in fact (and the fans in it), that I've started following the Royals. I've become a bit of a fan. I read the KC Star's coverage of the team pretty much daily and get an e-mail alert with score and stats from Major League Baseball after every Royals loss--sorry, I mean game. I'd actually love to see them get back to their winning ways. In the meantime, though, Royals fans will have to settle for having a first-rate ballpark that honors the good name of the team's founder.
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