The Powder Blues

My wife and I attended our first Royals game of the 2008 season on Saturday, April 12. The Royals played the Minnesota Twins that night. Our team was off to a great start, having swept the Mighty Tigers and taken two of three from the Formidable Yankees. But, I have to admit, the real reason we had tickets for this particular game, and that we'd had them since day one of single game ticket sales, was because of the promotional give away: Powder Blue Billy Butler Replica jerseys, #16, which was my number in high school and college. The first 20,000 fans would receive these jerseys in commemoration of the unveiling of the new powder blues the Royals would be wearing that night.

I tend to obsess about baseball, and attending a game is no exception. It is not uncommon for us to spend over six hours at the ballpark on game day. I love to get to the park early enough to see the visiting team take batting practice, and I love to linger after the game. Had the weather cooperated that day, we probably would have arrived at Kauffman Stadium at about 3:30, two-and-a-half hours prior to the first pitch. As it turns out, the weather would not be the last thing to disappoint us.

It was like the dead of winter. Okay. Not quite, but it was really cold. But we were prepared, wore countless layers, and planned on adding an additional Powder Blue layer at the game. We figured the weather would keep other folks from going early too, but we were wrong. We didn't go to the game until about 4:45pm. We only live 10 minutes from the stadium so we arrived at the park about an hour before game time. When we handed over our tickets at the gate, there must have been 30,000 people there, and the coveted Powder Blue replica jerseys were being worn by two-thirds of them. When we didn't get our jerseys we were really disappointed.

After pushing through the crowds and finding our cheap seats, our eyes beheld the one bright spot of the evening: Crown Vision -- approximately 8,925 square feet of high definition LCD goodness. It's almost 105 feet tall and 85 feet wide, and it is amazing. For the time being, it is the largest HD LCD video display in the world. Did I mention it was amazing?

Still in awe of the biggest, sweetest TV I'd ever seen, we soon realized that we were sitting in front of a group of rowdy college-age kids who had obviously been there for a few hours and had been drinking all the while. We were disappointed and annoyed, but not surprised. We always seem to sit by annoying people.

The next disappointment came when we realized that our favorite player, John Buck, was not in the lineup that night. When we saw that his backup, Miguel Olivo, would be handling the duties behind the plate, I realized that the way our night was going, there was no way the Royals were going to win.

After about five innings the rowdies behind us won and we relocated to some empty seats on the lower level. On our way down we stopped at the Flipside Grill, home of our all-time favorite ballpark treat, Chili-Cheese Tots, where we learned that Tots in any form were no longer on the menu. So, we settled for the Chili-Cheese Fries, but they were those soggy crinkle fries (a curse upon you, your children, and your children's children, Mr. Inventor of the crinkle fry). What's more, the chili was different and didn't look nearly as appetizing. This would also be a great place to mention that we waited 15 minutes at the cash register before anyone helped us, but you don't need to hear about too many disappointments. I think the employee taking orders from our line was due for a break, so she left, and no one stepped in, but like I said, you don't need to hear about that.

We finally sat down to eat our Chili-Cheese Fries, now surrounded by plenty of quiet, empty seats, where we no longer needed to endure the moronic criticism of the game offered by our previous neighbors. The Royals were, of course, losing. They only had two hits thus far in the game, and we missed both of them while waiting in line. I looked at my wife, and before I realized what I was asking for, said, "Well, at least it's not raining."

I looked up as the ninth inning began and it began to snow...

Despite the loss and all the other disappointments, we actually had a good time at the ballpark, which is probably just further testament of the sweetness of Crown Vision.

As I pulled into our driveway my phone rang. It was a friend calling to tell us that he had grabbed a pair of the Powder Blue promotional jerseys for us. Garth Brooks and the rowdy college drunks can have their friends in low places. I'll keep my friends in high ones, thank you very much.