Thanks Mr. K

Today it was announced that longtime royals owner, the late Ewing Kauffman was denied the vote into the baseball hall of fame. I never really knew much about Mr. K. He sounded like a wonderful man. He was a humanitarian and a great human being. The name Kauffman is still present all around the city, most notably at "The K" or Kauffman Stadium. Orginially called Royals Stadium I believe I was there when the name changed in 1993, it was while we were in the process of relocating to Overland Park from Omaha.

The Royals have struggled with ownership since Mr. K passed away and sold the team. The team is in the hands of the Glass family right now and they seem to have the right guy at the helm, Dayton Moore. I have had the honor of meeting Dayton before. He sat down for a radio interview with us and prior to the interview I introduced myself. An hour later he remembered my name, shook my hand and said "Thanks Andrew." To say the least I was impressed by Dayton and am a believer in what he wants to do with the good guys.

Back to Mr. K though because thats why you called. He had this city abuzz for Royals Baseball, which culminated in 1985 when the good guys won the World Series. Firey Whitey Herzog was at the helm, a quirky Dan Quisenberry would come in and close games. Hometown hero Frank White was at second. Willie Wilson was in the outfield. And of course there was future hall of famer George Brett. In addition to Quis they had Gubicza, Saberhagen and Royals Hall of Famer Dennis Leonard. They ranked fifth in the American league in attendance. People lived for Royals baseball. Royals Stadium was the place to be on summer nights in the city of fountains.

I mentioned Moore because he has the potential to take the Royals and Kansas City back to where they once were. A place only our fathers know, and from the way they speak of it, it would be so special to be a part of again.