Kansas City Royals: Home opener memories

By Walker

Ahhh it’s opening day at the K! A day where you get to call in healthy to work and head to the park for some fun and possible sun! Over the past 25 or so years, this is also one of the few days you can’t walk up and buy a ticket for the game. Is it the renewal of a new year, the fact the Royals weren’t mathematically eliminated yet, or the fact that Kansas City really is a big baseball city yearning for a winner? Whatever the reason, there is always a buzz in the stadium, a sweet smell in the parking lot (of bbq) and optimism in the air. Here is a list of a few of our favourite opening days of years past.

Luke: 2012 Royals vs Indians – If this is the “good, the bad, and the ugly”, this memory is the “bad”. “The opening day that stands out the most to me is the game Luke Hochevar got to start his first Opening Day. The thing I remember most about this game is the fact that Hochevar got shelled like ‘The Beaches of Normandy’ that day (4 innings, 7 Runs, 9 hits), and things didn’t get much better after that.”

X.: 2008 Royals vs Yankees – This would definitely be the “ugly”. “I distinctly remember the Home Opener in 2008 vs the Evil Empire. In typical New York fashion a bunch of Bronx Bro’s were in the stands, and just talking non-stop. Right before the game started I headed to the get a couple beers at the concession stands when all of a sudden a HUGE melee broke out in the concourse. About 15 dudes were scrapping and throwing punches as the group was flailing all around. When it was all said and done, a bunch of the Yankees fans were escorted out, and they missed the ‘Boys in Blue’ pulling a 5-3 victory out!”

Walker: I have a few -

1. 2001 Royals vs Twins – The thing I remember most about this was that I was sitting with my aunt when all of a sudden we saw a guy fall out of the left field G.A. (you remember how much fun G.A. used to be…that’s a post for a different day). But unlike the usual get-up-and-run-around-the-fat-security-guards, this guy just laid there. That did not however stop the fat security guard from tackling the already down man. We came to find out later the guy fractured his leg, and broke his spine! Yikes. Royals lost 2-6.

2. 2006 Royals vs Detroit Tigers – This game was one of fate…not so much for the Royals but for me and some friends. The first was that I had a ticket, but was coming straight from school, and my friends were already in the game when I got there. My phone died trying to get a hold of them, and I knew I was stuck. But as luck would have it Royals Blue fanatic Ram Montemayor just happened to walk by me outside the stadium. I asked him if he had his phone so I could call the guys with my ticket, and serendipitously, he happened to have an extra standing room ticket. I got into the game and found my way to the seats.

However, about the fourth inning, fellow Royals Blue fan (and at that point, roommate) Matt Koch begins to feel ill. He claims he ate a weird looking hot dog before the game (if you know Matt this isn’t out of the ordinary) and he thinks it may be fighting back. Well, fast forward to when I got home, and he was in the fetal position on the couch. The National Championship Game was on TV and we asked him how bad he was hurting. He said he “needed to go to the hospital”… We countered that with, “can we finish watching the first half of the game, and take you during halftime?” I like to think he said yes, because that is what happened.

Upon arrival at St. Luke’s Hospital he was rushed into surgery to remove his appendix as it was about to BURST! All the while we were in the waiting room watching Florida win their Championship. The appendix was not the only thing lost that day…the Royals lost 1-3.

3. 2004 Royals vs White Sox – Fellow Royals Blue writer Zachary Hodson, Royals Blue Fan Bryan DeLeve and I had all recently purchased season tickets. This was our first game together in OUR seats (well technically these were the Hy-Vee seats we bought, but OUR real seats turned in to section 120 two rows above the walk way, so as to not draw too much attention for being greedy!).

The previous year the Royals had their best season in 15 years, and this team was going to be great. Zach wrote earlier about a guy only Royals fans will remember – Mendy Lopez – and his only at bat I can ever remember. Mendy comes up in the ninth, and belts a bomb to tie the game up! Then Carlos “You Know” Beltran comes up and hits a game winning homer off Damaso Martes. The place went absolutely bananas! Royals walk off in extra innings 9-7. And the best was the next game Martes came in, and they put an INFINITY symbol on the jumbotron for his ERA.