Sunday afternoon September 27, LaDonna and I attended the last Royals home game of the 2009 season. Zack Grienke won his 16th game 4-1 against the Minnesota Twins. He is on track to hopefully win this years Cy Young award. Living in Kansas City access to Kauffman Stadium has allowed my family to see many outstanding ballplayers and memorable moments.
While growing up my family made trips to Busch stadium in St. Louis to see the Cardinals play. A trip to St. Louis took about 3 hours so trips were not frequent. In the picture you see my brothers and I in front of Busch Memorial Stadium. (L-R, Mark, Scott, Gary, Me, Gregg). On our first trip to the stadium in 1967 we were passing through to Illinois. There was no game that day. We returned the next summer to see our first game. We arrived early to get the best GA unreserved seats available. We found out that GA seats were the top six rows all around the stadium. There we sat with our ballgloves behind home plate, a long way up. On return trips we worked our way down closer to the field. One hot Sunday afternoon we returned for a "scheduled" double header against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We sat on the first base side mid-level, in the shade under an upper deck. It was hot and the shade felt good. I remember some other people from Lebanon were at the game on the 3rd base side, sitting in the sun. Of course we saw Roberto Clemente but I remember Dad commenting how impressed he was with a young shortstop, Fred Patek, who would later play for the Royals. Some of the Cardinal greats we saw play in those early trips were Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver, Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Dal Maxvill, Julian Javier, Orlando Cepeda, Mike Shannon and Roger Maris.
Eventually Dad worked his way on to the baseball field itself. The Lebanon Chamber of Commmerce sponsored a Lebanon Day at Busch Stadium. As one of the officers of the C of C Dad was on the field with several other people from Lebanon for first pitch ceremonies.
It was about 1970 when we made our first and only family trip to a Royals game. They were still playing in Municipal stadium on Brooklyn Avenue. The tickets Dad bought were behind a post on the first base side down the right field line. He went to exchange them for something with a better view. The only Royals players I remember seeing were Lou Pinella and Amos Otis.
Through the years LaDonna and I (and family)have seen many great baseball players and moments. Our honeymoon involved a trip to see the Cardinals vs. Dodgers. Grandma Rita celebrated the news of her first grandchild by seeing the Braves play the Cardinals. LaDonna and I saw Steve Carlton win his 300th game vs. the Cardinals. We also saw Reggie Jackson of the Yankees face Hal Hrabosy of the Royals (with Billy Martin putting in his two cents). Our kids have seen George Brett, Kevin Seitzer's six hit game, Mark McGwire, and Nolan Ryan to name a few. Seeing Zack Grienke pitch this past sunday was only the latest in a long list of great baseball moments. -30-
