29 Jun 2022 - Texas Rangers vs Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium

 29 Jun

This afternoon we headed back to Kauffman Stadium to watch the Kansas City Royals host the Texas Rangers.  The weather was clear and warm with the temperature topping out at 92 today.  We entered at Gate 6 and parked the big ol' brown truck in no-man's land, section N, which is where you park if you choose to tailgate.  There was tons of room there and no one parked anywhere near us.   

We quickly made our way to the stadium and entered near home plate.  It is nice we were able to take the tour yesterday so we knew where we were going.  We made our way around the left field side and across the back of the outfield to the area behind the fountains.  They were in operation today and we watched them a bit.

Yesterday during our tour we scoped out the food vendors so today we knew where we wanted to have lunch.  We had not yet had Kansas City barbecue, so we figured Sweet Baby Ray's might be the place to go.  There was no line and we quickly got our food.  

We both ordered the "Cheesy Corn Brisket Acho bowl, which is basically a base of nacho chips (or fries), topped with brisket, cole slaw, baked beans and cheesy corn (looked like creamed corn) with Sweet baby Ray's barbecue sauce on the side.  It was very good and very filling.  We opted for a disposable bowl instead of the larger inverted plastic souvenir helmet.

   After lunch we continued on around the right field side and back to the home plate area where we found the "guest services" office.  We got our MLB Passport stamped yesterday, but most MLB parks we have visited offer a "First Game" certificate of some kind.  The Royals are no exception.  They filled out the certificate for us and then asked us for our seat numbers which we provided.  

Then we made our way to our seats which are located just to the 3rd base side of home plate.  We were fortunate that our seats we just in the shade!  We had folks sitting in our seats when we arrived but when challenged they quickly moved.  They were seated lower in direct sun and moved up to our seats to enjoy our shade a bit.  We really had great seats, We usually sit further out towards third base.

The video scoreboard deserved honorable mention.  In 2021 during the offseason the Royals made a major upgrade to their Crown Vision video board, converting it to high dynamic range imaging. That makes it the tallest HDR video board in baseball.  According to the article, the team also improved the outfield fence display as well as adding a new board in left field that will cover the entire wall of the Royals Hall of Fame.

The video board combined with the fountains and other features really enhance the beauty of this great stadium.

There is a ton of info on this board and it is very easy to read.

Before the game started we were visited by a couple of the Royals staff who greeted us, welcomed us to the ballpark, and gave us personalized buttons to wear.  That was really awesome.  We've not experienced that at any other field!

The game went quickly, just 2 hrs 18 minutes and the Royals beat the Rangers 2-1.  We saw one home run and one hit batsman.  There were no errors committed.  

So we had a really great time at the game!  One more MLB ballpark visited.  Only a handful left to see!

Tomorrow we head to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum and the Arabia Steamboat Museum

Friday we reconnect with our great friend and high school classmate Elaine Burkhart Dubray

Saturday we are going on a Pioneer Trails Adventure which involves a 90 minute guided horse and buggy ride around town including historical sites and battlefields

Sunday we will prepare to depart, do laundry, etc

Monday we head for Prairie Flower Campground just a few miles from our home in Ankeny IA where we will stay for the next week before heading towards our daughter's house south of Milwaukee WI.