The Kansas City Royals have been at Kaufman stadium for 51 years as of 2023. Called the K by locals, this stadium, opened to fans in 1973, has become one of the beloved ballparks in Missouri. It has been renovated over the years. The artificial turf was replaced by grass in 1995. The LED video display board is the tallest in baseball and has 3.5 million pixels.
One unique feature of this ballpark is 322-ft water spectacle featuring cascading water, that shoots out water during homerun by Royal. The outfield was pushed back in 2004 season to make it one of the most spacious parks. In fact, Kaufman has the 2nd most playable field square footage in the Majors (behind Coors field in CO).
The Royals are a MLB team in the American League Central division, founded as an expansion team in 1969 when Athletics (played in Kansas City from 1955 to 1967) left KC for Oakland. The Royals have won 2 World Series (1985 and 2015). The name “Royals” pays homage to the American Royal, a livestock show, horse show, rodeo, and championship barbecue competition held in Kansas City annually since 1899. The Royals have their share of greats, like George Brett, Whitey Herzog, and Frank White. Their greatest rivals are the St Louis Cardinals (I-70 series).
When I visited Kaufman Stadium in August 2018, the Royals played the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won (St Louis Cardinals 8 - Kansas City Royals 3). What I liked about this game was the resilience on the Royals team. They had a losing record (under 0.5). Despite that, the opponent had to bring their A game to beat them at their home park.
In Sept 2023, Royals once again have a losing record (53-102) while their opponent, the Houston Astros (85-70), are competing for a playoff spot. The Royals know they have a young team, but getting wins (especially series wins) against the defending champion Astros really builds confidence for the future. If your team cannot be in postseason, beating teams that are competing late in the season is a fun exercise for the young inexperienced Royals. Watching scoreboards is exciting at the end of regular season, as teams on brink of elimination race to qualify for postseason berths.
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