Subject: Kauffman Stadium Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 23:56:13 -0400 From: Don Dudley Organization: Sun Microsystems To: Don.Dudley@Sun.COM National Pastime Fans, Sorry for the long delay this spring! I'm sure by now you've all totally immersed yourselves in the last baseball season of the century, as they say on ESPN. On April 12th, thanks to my brother, cousin and favorable weather, I had the good fortune to keep my Rockies' Home Opener streak alive at seven. My brother's college friends "Mel" Heatherley and "Hud" were able to join us again this year -- Mel for the fourth year and Hud for a third, in from Oklahoma City -- as did local favorite "Bubba" Barber. Memories of Eric Young's epic leadoff homer in 1993 sprung back as Darryl Hamilton got things going for the Rockies, also on a 3-2 pitch, no less. But alas, the bullpen issued three walks in the 8th inning to dissipate a 5-2 lead. Always dangerous former Red Sox Jim Leyritz hit a three-run poke in the 11th to win it for the Padres 8-5 and the Rockies fell below .500 for the first time in their Home Openers. In addition to the traditional buffalo burger at Coors Field, we were able to enjoy some outstanding Mexican food in the greater Denver area the morning of and the night before the game. The following Saturday, April 17th, I resumed my "park bagging" quest in Kansas City. Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas and the White Sox were in town. The franchise has struggled relatively since George Brett's retirement, and with the paltry attendance (officially bloated to 11,776), I was able to walk up and get myself the antithesis of a Bob Uecker seat. I was in the first row behind the dugout seats (Row B for some reason?), three seats off dead center behind home plate, with a clear view of the JUGS radar guns mounted on the rail in front of me. The raw weather also contributed to the meager turnout. It was cloudy, barely 40, with a brisk wind -- the box score said 30 mph, but apart from a few gusts, that was a bit of an exaggeration. It was way too cold for batting practice, so I wandered in and out of the Royals clothing shops to keep warm as I sampled the concessions. After paying only $15 for my ticket, I was a bit surprised by the "contemporary prices" of the concessions -- e.g., $3 for a hot, soft pretzel -- but the barbecue was good and the hot chocolate, complete with souvenir Royals cup, was very welcome in the seventh inning, even at $4.75. (I did also get some barbecue at famous Arthur Bryant's that night.) The grass they installed in 1995 has transformed Ewing Kauffman's jewel from being near the lower echelons occupied by the cookie-cutter Vet, Three Rivers and Riverfront (unlike the others, it has at least been used only for baseball; the Chiefs play at Arrowhead Stadium right next to it in the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex) to the levels of, say, Dodger Stadium. Didn't even Richie Allen say, "If cows can't eat it, I don't want to play on it," regarding turf? The grass was truly magnificent, even in mid-April. The 322-foot-wide fountain in right-center is renowned -- the largest privately funded waterworks in the world. Jermaine Dye went yard for the Royals, his second in two games, so I even got to see the fireworks. Kauffman has a reputation for having the best visibility for hitters in the majors. Apparently they haven't retired any numbers for now, other than Jackie Robinson's. They do honor Brett with a large Countdown to Cooperstown display in left field -- at the time there were 99 days to go until his July induction. They also have a Royals Hall of Fame display already containing enough players that a couple would be fairly obscure to the casual, non-Royals fan. The game was a decent one, albeit nightmarish for Royals fans. The radar gun reiterated the well-known fact that you've got to have movement on your fastball to get major league hitters out; White Sox starter Jaime Navarro was consistently hitting the highest numbers on the gun but got pounded around the most. He escaped with a no-decision, however, and brought his ERA _down_ to 13.50. Similar to the Rockies game I saw five days earlier, the Royals bullpen, namely closer Jeff Montgomery, couldn't nail it down and blew a 5-3 lead in the 9th. Big Hurt, batting .485 at the time, walked for the 1,000th time in his career with two on in the ninth. He showed a lot more hustle than Carlos Beltran to score the go-ahead run from first when Beltran muffed Magglio Ordonez's single and took his time retrieving it. On Sunday, I visited the Negro League Baseball Museum located in the historic 18th and Vine area. It just opened in late 1997. It's small enough that I believe I did the place justice with a 90-minute stay, whereas integer multiples of that are required at Cooperstown. I regret to say there were a minuscule number of visitors in there with me. If you visit, you'll surely remember the extent to which the spectators, especially the women, got dressed up for the games in those days. That must be where the expression "dressed to the nines" comes from. I think we need to dust off our tuxes more often, Rog ;-). So, it's 24 down, six to go, with now only a remote possibility of completion before the Millennium, assuming you count 1999 as the end and not 2000. Regards, Don P.S. Don't hesitate to let me know if you want to be removed from future mailings such as this.