Kansas City Royals: Saying Goodbye

Now we embark upon fall again, but this time things are a little different. Even as fall approached last year and the Royals were out of it, there was still hope for 2017.

This fall, there’s a different tone in the air at Kauffman stadium. As chants of ‘Lets Go Royals!’ occasionally pop, it brings back goosebumps and the memories of a packed stadium all focused on every pitch.

In the 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, I had the luxury of sitting down front on the first base side. In a play that was otherwise meaningless in that game, I watched Lorenzo Cain bust it down the line to get to first base. Ian Kinsler booted the ball and Cain was safe at first as he ran halfway down the right field line.

As chants of ‘Lets Go Royals!’ occasionally pop, it brings back goosebumps and the memories of a packed stadium all focused on every pitch.

There was a nice pop from the crowd as he was declared safe by the umpire, and then he turned and looked at the entire first base section slowly and flashed that LoCain smile. It was as playful as ever, but it was almost like a mutual understanding between he and the crowd.

It wasn’t a quick glance as he seemed to scan the audience and shake his head slowly. He was soaking it all in. The lights, the crowd, the cheers, the blue and white, everything.

I too, like so many around me, sat in my seat and tried to soak it all in. I knew, what everyone else knew, that it was over. That the players we’d all grown so close to were on borrowed time. It had the look and feel of every cliche sports movie ever in which a once dominant athlete, now broken and battered, gave it their best and came up just a little short.