Was a time, baseball was huge…
I shoveled snow, mowed lawns, saved my money – anything to get a buck to buy a 24 count box of baseball cards. With luck, I’d get cards of childhood heroes like Mickey Mantle, but my real objective was to get Kansas City A’s players like Norm Siebern, Jerry Lumpe or Bob Cerv.
I look back on those days as a time when baseball mattered.
Unlike today…
I mean, what else in sports really mattered in the 1960s?
After I completed my passage from loser kid to loser adult, like many, I became a Chiefs fan. And judging by some of the crowds at Arrowhead and the team’s Super Bowl rallies, there are lots of those.
All of that said, in the scheme of things, I’m still far from fervent.
So tearing down Royals Stadium – or as Greg Hall anointed it, The K – is close to the bottom of my list of things I’d like to see happen here – if it’s even on such a list at all.
Frankly, I’m more worried about preserving downtown’s Gallup Map and Birdies than I am a giant slab of concrete.
And as an Arizonan, recently relocated back to Kansas I didn’t get a vote in the matter. However, in truth, I look at a “downtown ballpark” here as an unnecessary waste.
I mean, it’s not like the current stadium is on its last legs.
Rather, that in the scheme of things baseball strikes me as a dying sport. Not that it’s going completely away, but just as gladiatorial combat beat out javelin throwing, old school baseball reminds me more of watching golf on TV as a child.
So why blow billions for a mere relocation?
We’ve got far bigger fish to fry.
Apparently I’m not alone in that thinking. I mean, it’d be one thing if there was an actual risk of losing something the a majority of locals thought was vital to life as we know it…
But all things considered that doesn’t appear to be the case.
I mean, correct me if I’m wrong…
Hey, lots of things have changed since the 1960s. Like halfway normal people actually care about and watch golf on television. And the Royals – speaking of Birdies – did away with the team’s fabled “halter top day” promotion.
So much for the “good old daze.”
I’m totally against public funding for a billionaire’s stadium, regardless of sport. That being said, this is far from over. The Royals will not be playing baseball at their current location within 5 years. Whether they move over to the KS side, Crossroads, the East Village, NKC, or God forbid, the West Bottoms they WILL be moving. Sherman is dead set on it, and the Chiefs are fine with it as they want the extra land after demolishing the “K”. The biggest reason the vote failed miserably was that the whole idea was a clownshow in how it was run. Lack of transparency. Poor campaigning. Terrible timing, especially with the Jackson County property tax fiasco. The biggest problem may have been the apparent total lack of organization and planning around the entire idea. It was rushed. Self set deadlines were missed. Just a total joke of a clownshow, much like the Royals’ organization has been for the last 30 years. Eventually though, they will move. How they do it….I’m not sure. Perhaps others have ideas.
Excellent take…
I’ve been gone a couple years, but it sure seems like the interest locally in MLB and the Royals is missing in action. And as you note, it’s hard to imagine them running a worse campaign.
Like people who win the lottery and lose it all because they cannot cope with the responsibilities and opportunities of wealth … so goes John Sherman. He must have become rich by accident and not by intelligence. If the Royals leave KC then KC is probably better off without the Royals who will no doubt fail miserably under his leadership. The idea that the state of kansas would buy the Royals reinforces what I’ve always believed about kansas — they are bad neighbors suffering from a huge inferiority complex … they’re actually the trailer park of the USA.
Personally I think Sherman wanting a new ballpark is all about getting the Kaufman name removed. Sure he’ll make money with a new development when he sells it at its peak selling price but most of all the new park won’t be called The K.
The taxpayers made it clear they are tired of supporting rich ball team owners and players. Hell most the players and owners don’t even live in KC or Jackson country. Their bully tactics don’t help either when they resort to the ole play my way or I’ll take my toys and leave. They like to act in a self-important manner as they swagger down the street bragging how they own the team but expect you to support their team by paying high rates for tickets and fists full of tax dollars or they will piss on you and move. Call their bluff I say.
Well said, wild man…
And an interesting take.Although at this stage of the game, there are not a lot of folks running around tipping their hats to the Kauffman’s. Seems like only yesterday, Ewing was practically a saint.
How quickly we forget
Agree with SuperDave here. That being said, there is ALWAYS a city ready to bend over for sodomization when it comes to attracting a major league sports team. When it comes to the Royals…keep an eye on Nashville TN. It’s a city with an exploding population and a vibrant entertainment district. It’s got an NFL team and has already hosted the NFL Draft, to many accolades.
Baseball may seem like a dying sport but it’s doing quite well for itself. The Billionaire owners still make large profit of their teams, especially via TV contracts. St. Louis is a huge baseball town and it’s not too far from The K. Of course there are other huge MLB markets such as Atlanta, L.A. N.Y(Yankees and Mets), Houston, Dallas and on and on. The Royals are so bad today they make it look like baseball is dying but back in 2014-2015 they were the talk of the town, even moreso than the once snakebitten Chiefs.
KC Royals: Two playoff appearances in 38 years. This will make anybody think baseball is DEAD!
I think the problems with MLB is unless you are like the Royals a few years back and suddenly – almost out of nowhere – your team is a likely playoff contender, nobody has time to spend however many nights a week for five or six months watching to see ion their ship comes in.
The season’s too long, with way too many games each week. Hey, when I was a kiddo and that’s about all there was outside of three or four TV channels and a movie to two every week, it fit in far better.
But the days of actually watching paint dry are over for MANY of us. We have a zillion tv channels and it’s far easier to climb the ladder of success in football than in baseball.
I dunno, will baseball be the bowling? Maybe not, but time sure have changed and spending billions on a downtown ballpark seems like a ridiculous stretch / waste of money.
You’re right KC owner wanting a downtown stadium is pure B.S. And get this, I recently saw a quote from George Brett where he said the Chiefs probably want their own space away from the Royals; “they share the same parking lot” and that it’s time the Royals move downtown. Et tu #5?
zzzzzzzzzz…boring……………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..ewing a saint (we haven’t forgot)..you
with dementia have…but not harley. Cognitive scores are soaring!!!!!!!!!