To take a baseball bus tour, you probably have to be some sort of a super fan, at least somewhat.
It is a lot of baseball compressed into a short amount of time. It can be tiring, especially since you almost always feel like you are on the go.
This was the completion of my seven-city, seven ballpark tour with Diamond Baseball Tours in June. It started in Denver, CO, and finished in Kansas City, MO.
It was definitely a good time, though. You got to meet a lot of people with similar interests. I’ve introduced you to a few of them throughout this series and today I’ll introduce you to five more.
First, there was a three-generation family from the New Jersey area. Andy and his son, Kevin had completed a tour a few years ago. Andy’s father, Charles, asked why didn’t you take me? So when this year came around Charles, 83, was a part of the group, along with Andy and Kevin and Andy’s niece, Madison.
Fan allegiances were spread out as well. Charles is a Yankee fan while Andy is a Mets fan and Kevin a Phillies fan.
Then there is Margie, who had the shortest distance home after the tour ended. She is a native of Kansas City, so it was only a few miles after reclaiming her car at airport parking.
Margie, a Red Sox fan, is a Diamond Hall of Fame member. She has seen every ballpark on a Diamond Tour. In fact, she has seen all 30 ballparks twice and is starting a third go around. She has also started incorporating football into her stadium travels, usually a baseball game on Friday, college football on Saturday, and pro football on Sunday.
While Margie has seen all 30 with Diamond, she has also used other tour companies, such as Jay Buckley and Sports Travel and Tours.
So when we pulled into Kauffman Stadium after a long week, it was still exhilarating as we walked into the stadium, which is possibly one of the more intriguing stadiums to cross off the list. It is one of the oldest stadiums, but the outfield waterfalls and fountains make for a unique experience.
Known as the Water Spectacular, the fountains are on display before, after, and between innings of any game. The waterfalls are constantly flowing. It is the largest privately funded fountain in the world.
It is a pretty cool experience to be able to walk right next to the fountains. You can’t walk from right field to left field without going up and down stairs. The fountains do offer some small relief from the heat with the spray from the fountains.
Kauffman is the sixth oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, behind Boston’s Fenway Park (1912), Chicago’s Wrigley Field (1914), Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium (1962), Angels Stadium of Anaheim (1966), and the Oakland Coliseum (1966).
Kauffman was the only baseball-only park built in the majors from 1966-1991. It was also one of the few baseball-only facilities built during the cookie-cutter stadium building boom. Kauffman is one of two such stadiums that are still active and were never converted into multi-purpose stadiums. Dodger Stadium is the other.
The main stadium is primarily concrete, with a smooth, uncovered facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at the foul poles, with smaller bleacher sections in the outfield. The Royals call them outfield plazas.
Current field dimensions are 330 feet down the left field line, 387 to left-center, 410 to center field, 387 to right-center and 330 down the right field line. The backstop is 60 feet behind home plate.
Beginning in 2007, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium to honor Buck O’Neil, who was finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July. The seat, which was formerly occupied by O’Neil, is located behind home plate. It was section 101, Row C, Seat 1 until stadium renovations in 2009. It is now Section 127, Row C, Seat 9.
The Royals honor a person who embodies the spirit of O’Neil, selected from community nominees to sit in that seat each game. O’Neil played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from 1937 to 1955.
The Royals have a pretty extensive Hall of Fame as part of the Outfield Experience. The Hall of Fame starts out with the Clubhouse Lobby, where the Royals’ retired numbers are displayed. There is also Cooperstown Corner, the Royals Way and the Plaque Gallery.
In the Crowning Moments section, you can see trophies from the 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1984 division titles, as well as the 1980 and 1985 American League pennants.
Finally, the Plaque Gallery winds up the visit, where you can see all 26 Royals Hall members, including third baseman George Brett, second baseman Frank White, manager Dick Howser and former owners Ewing and Muriel Kauffman.
Those five also have statues near the outfield gates. Brett, Howser and White are in right field while the Kauffmans greet fans in left field.
Also part of the Outfield Experience is a kids’ play area, highlighted by a whiffle ball field. There is also the Taste of KC food court and a sports bar-themed restaurant in right field.
In the game, Oakland defeated Kansas City, 9-7. The Athletics took an early 2-0 lead in the first and never lost the lead. The Royals would score three in the eighth, but would get no closer.
