How to make the Royals relevant again
Yael T. AbouhalkahBack in the 1970s I sat in the $1.50 right-field bleacher seats at Royals Stadium to cheer on a great baseball franchise.
Ah, memories.
Flash forward to the 2013 season and KC fans will pay a lot more than that (of course) to see a team that a) might win the American League’s Central Division or b) disappoint us once again.
My bet is on b) because of history.
But my heart - and yours as well, if you’re a true Royals fan - is with a).
So how can the Royals become truly relevant again in Kansas City?
The first and only answer is to win meaningful games.
Pretty simple, right? Well, not for the Royals, who have had only one winning season in the last 18 years.
Let that fact sink in.
Yet this week’s trade for pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis of Tampa Bay is supposed to help make us contenders in the Central Division?
Star colleague Sam Mellinger has a great take on how Royals fans are reacting. And you can read passionate takes from different people on the web about how much they love the trade or hate it. Or just get all nerdy about it.
Fact is, people here and around the nation who follow baseball are at least talking about the Kansas City Royals as a real meaningful subject. In December, to boot.
That’s perhaps a start at making the Royals relevant again in this town. But winning games is the only thing that will get people to the ball park on a consistent basis.
Hope the Royals remember that much in the 2013 season.
Erik Van Deusen
5 months, 1 week agoFYI: Royals/Kauffman Stadium has never had bleacher seats. General admission seats have always been regular chair-backed seats, never bleachers.