Sunday Sermon: A Brand New K

Let me tell you: There's nothing like touring a new professional-sports facility in the freezing rain with 25-mph wind gusts. Today was the open house out at Kauffman Stadium, where fans could come tour the facility and see all of the new features, renovations, and if so desired, take a few crappy pictures with a digital camera they don't know how to use. Details, post jump.

It was nice to finally see the crown atop the scoreboard. I'll say that much. And it was nice to see the various amenities like the Party Deck and the Hall of Fame and the Pine Tar Pub. It was a bit odd that beyond the outfield, there's a merry-go-round, miniature golf, a playground, a batting cage, and a base-running area, all adjacent to the Little K. I mean we are still going out to the park to watch the game, right?



Well, I am, anyway. And I'm left with a couple of feelings about tomorrow:

1) I'm glad that the tax-payers of Jackson County voted in favor of the renovations because the organization felt that they were necessary. To me, Kauffman Stadium was fine how it was; it's one of the handsomest parks in the country, but there was a sense that the Royals wanted to update, to upgrade, to modernize, and the facility certainly has that feel now. Perhaps the biggest change for the average game attendee is the mammoth difference in concourse width, especially on the lower level behind the home-plate sections. Feels weird, like it's not even the same stadium, but I suppose that was necessary so that all us drunken hillibillies and our 300-pound sisters with whom we fornicate.

2) This is not the same baseball team, so it's fitting that the digs are a bit new. Some of that is hype, but I also think that the Royals have a fair shake at being competitive in this division in 2009. Will they win it? It's probably a long shot. But I'm excited to see more run production, and am confident that they will build upon last year's 75 wins.



I haven't been this excited about the season starting since, well, one year ago today. Let's. Play. Ball.