Guest Post: Filling the park in Kansas City
Posted on August 23rd, 2009 – 12:25 PMBy Howard
(Note from Howard: When frequent commenter Jason Iacovino he told me that he was going to Kansas City for the weekend, I figured he’d be a perfect candidate to file on behalf of the Twins fans who made the Twins. Jason is an attorney and a play-by-play announcer for KRFO Radio in Owatonna, MN. He’s a 2001 graduate of the University of Minnesota, with a bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication and a 2006 graduate of the University of St. Thomas School of Law.)
You think our season is over? Take a peek at where Kansas City ranks in the standings. All props go to the 33,000+ that showed up for what was a meaningless game for a team that is 18.0 GB in the AL Central on Saturday night. Of course there were plenty of Twins fans like us, but I handicapped the crowd at 62:38, Royals fans. That’s called understanding how good you have it. I haven’t been to Fenway, Wrigley, or New York, but I sincerely believe Kauffman Stadium is the best baseball experience in America.
Basically, you have the field and the fans, both intimately connected, and that’s about it (except for a monster HD screen). No tacky in-your-face advertising, no annoying pre- or post-game gimmicks…just baseball, up close and personal.
Saturday it was a battle of which bullpen wanted to lose it more. As it turned out, Kansas City won that contest. So thanks to an Oakland win, we’re still hanging on that limb. Brian Duensing impressed, but Gardy apparently wanted to make it interesting by bringing in Bobby Keppel with a 6-2 lead in the sixth after Duensing threw just 80 pitches. Who knows, he may have been on a pitch count, but that move spelled disaster from the word “Go.” Then Crain came in to put more gas on the fire, but it wasn’t enough for a hometown comeback win on a night when they packed Kauffman.
It was another adventure in right field that made the difference. The boys and I watched the replay from our hotel no less than seven times and debated if Josh Anderson screwed up the Cuddyer double in the ninth. I’m convinced he did. He pulled up lame on a ball that could’ve easily been caught. That move made Cuddy, aka ‘Not My Fault,’ a hero in an ugly battle of bullpen ineptitude. And if KC is looking for a villain, you could arguably pin both losses on Anderson. But who cares, I’ll take the win. Way to go, Cuddy! Way to go Twins!
Thirty-three thousand came to see a game that had no meaning. Not bad, KC. We had a blast…friendly locals, great views, and Josh Anderson absolutely could hear what we threw his way after Cuddy’s sand wedge fell in for the game winner. If you haven’t been to Kauffman, it’s a must-see. We’ll have it good next year, but we won’t have the pregame atmosphere these guys do.
Hey, our patchwork lineup and pitching staff snuck us another W, so I’ll cheer hard for some “My Local Hardware Store” brooms to be in play by the end of Sunday’s game.
Don’t give up, Section 220…and don’t pass up the chance to experience Kauffman–tailgating to the final out–it’s unbelievable.
11 Responses to "Guest Post: Filling the park in Kansas City"
Good report, Jason. Keep it up. Sounds like you and your friends are having a blast. Thanks again.
I do totally agree with Jason about the stadium in KC. I wish I had gotten down there this season to see the finished remodel job (it was half done last year when I was there).
I look forward to outdoor baseball at Target Field next season, but I’ll still make a point to get down to KC for Twins/Royals series whenever possible. Love the city and love the ballpark.
I haven’t been to Kauffman yet - hopefully sooner rather than later - but I’d happily put Camden Yards up against it stadium to stadium. I can’t speak to the rest of the experience, but we always have an amazing time when the Twins come to Baltimore.
I was at Kauffman back in 98 to watch the Cubs in interleague with Sosa chasing 61, it was the greatest baseball experience of my life.
On TV the renovations don’t look that good to me. Advertisement city in the outfield and you can barely see the waterfalls anymore.
Maybe I need to go see it for myself next year.
Made it down there earlier this year for a game after seeing Liriano pitch pretty well at St. Louis. Was a lot of fun, great stadium. I especially liked standing out in the new Pepsi porch watching BP where I managed to have Slowey toss me up a ball. Was a great experience, and hope to do it again in the future, even with the top-notch Target Field opening next year. The one thing TF will really be missing is the Tailgating, not traditionally baseball, but it’s great down there at the K.
I haven’t been to the “new” Kauffman yet either,but I agree with Jason on the KC experience.The people of KC are great,and the food about town is very good also.
I’m not ready to totally commit to a Twins run back into contention.But I will watch and hope.The newest version of the Twins starting rotation just doesn’t add up against the Tigers or WhiteSox rotations.The Bullpen is a mess beyond Mijares,Guerrier,and Nathan.But if the Twins could win seven of the next nine this homestand,September could get interesting.
Good work Jason!
Made the Friday night game at the new K. I concur 100% with everything Jason has to say. Hopefully a taste of what we have in store at the new stadium in Minnesota. The cities are a couple of hours closer for us South Dakotans but KC is an excellent option as well.
I was at the game at Kauffman last night. That was my second time there this season while the Twins were in town. My first trip to Kauffman ever was during the week of the 4th of July when I saw the Twins/Royals on June 29 and then traveled to Minneapolis (I live in KS) for games at the dome on July 3 and 4.
Kauffman Stadium is awesome and the people are very friendly. After going from there to the Dome I can’t wait for Target Field next year either. It’s a completely different experience.
KC and Baltimore are totally different experiences… not saying one is better than the other, they’re just different. Both are great ballparks, but one is on the edge of town with a huge parking lot that’s ideal for the tailgating experience and the other is a terrific urban environment with some great restaurants and bars within a few blocks.
Both are terrific places to experience a ballgame.
About a month ago, I gave up hope for the playoffs. Jason had been trying to convince us to keep hope alive. I was fine with letting go of hope and looking forward to September callups and a better 2010. Then the Vikings turned into the Brett Favre show and I realized Jason was right!
Local football won’t be worth watching. The playoffs are not yet mathematically impossible.There’s no sense giving up yet.
With Cuddyer, Kubel, Mauer, Span and Morneau all outperforming their career years, this lineup can make up for moderately bad pitching. Now, all we need to do is get a few more of our starters to pitch a little less bad!
I’m back onboard.
I was at Kaufmann this past weekend as well, and it was a lot of fun. It’s a very fan friendly stadium, and it made me so excited for Target Field!
I was very impressed with the whole experience. We were able to get some pretty good seats at a very reasonable price for Friday nights game off Craig’s List, and then we just bought cheap upper level seats for Saturday, but both were great experiences. And it’s fun to watch the Twins take batting practice from close to the field - which they let you do.
A few years back I went to Comerica, and during BP you had to have tickets in that section to get near the field. That was a beautiful park, but not as nice for the fans I felt…
