George Harris Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel 2008

The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 2 in the 2009 World Series. Kansas City must find a way to match the investment New York put into their team to capture this world prize.

It will not be easy. The new Yankee Stadium cost an estimated $2.3 billion , including parking garages and replacement park land. The stadium itself cost an estimated $1.5 billion.

The Yankees' total team salary for 2009 was $204 million. By comparison, the total team salary for the Royals was $67.4 million.

No way we're going to be competitive, no way we're going to win another World Series without more investment in our team.

Our stadium is probably adequate if we can only raise money to buy better players. Here's my proposal:

First, ticket prices should be doubled. Single game tickets in New York can go for $1,000, I'm told.

Second, the metro area should initiate a World Series bi-state tax to raise $400 million, enough money to bridge the Royals-Yankees salary gap for three years. If we can't buy a World Series in three years, maybe then we'll have to consider the new stadium, too.

If a bi-state tax and a new, new stadium don't get the job done, then we should divert the COMBAT tax money into baseball funds. Nobody really cares that much about stopping drugs anyway.

Other incentives we could give to baseball players include tax abatements on their personal residences. I understand many Park Place condos are available. Maybe the city should buy the building and make it a dorm for players, especially right fielders.

Monday nights at the Power and Light District should be reserved for Royals players. The public should be prohibited so these guys can have some privacy. We should also build a private subway from the Park Place condos to the P&L District.

It would probably raise taxpayer ire to hire strippers to entertain the players on Mondays at the District. But perhaps a wealthy donor could be tapped for this small cost.

Dear readers, what else can we do to correct this annual championship trophy deficit and restore our city to the throne of baseball. Is there any price too great to pay?