Kansas City Royals: Loyal Fan Gives Heartfelt Thanks
By Paul York
Photo by Alexis Guetzlaff with Studio 178
My dad
Just like millions of other little boys, my dad introduced me to the game of baseball.
It was a game he loved, and he wanted to share with his son. He taught me about the players of yesteryear, and helped me identify the players of my childhood to embrace. And, of course, he introduced me to our hometown team–The Kansas City Royals.
And what a time to embrace those Royals. George Brett, Frank White, Bret Saberhagen, Willie Wilson, Dan Quisenberry, Hal McRae, Steve “Bye-bye” Balboni...I mean could there be a more likeable group of guys to root for?
With the exception of Brett, none were great, but all were tough, hard-nosed ball players. Those were the kind of players my dad liked, and in turn, the same guys I liked.
It didn’t stop there. I wasn’t satisfied just knowing my ball players. It was time for me to become a ball player. There was dad, ready to do his part to teach me.
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From front yard games of catch, to trips to any ball field we could find just to field some ground-balls/fly-balls (Side note: One of my fondest memories is that if I made ten good defensive plays in a row, I’d earn a couple of packs of Topps baseball cards. Yes, my dad bribed me, and did so with something he knew would fuel my love of the game.), to linking me up with recreation teams to play on at WYCO, to watching me make the varsity baseball team in high school, and ultimately to earning a scholarship to play baseball in college.
I’m extremely fortunate, that despite coming from an all-too-common “broken” family, my parents remained friendly, and each were by my side every step of the way throughout my baseball playing days.
What you don’t realize when you’re a kid, and what you’re parents don’t tell you, is the moment you step between those chalk-lines for your first baseball game/t-ball game, your final game starts chasing you down like a runaway train.
I can’t thank my parents enough for helping me fight off that last game as long as I did. My parents, like many, traveled a lot of miles, and made a lot of concessions to support my addiction to this game–this game my dad introduced me to.
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