Check one more off the list of MLB ballparks visited as I joined several friends and colleagues to take advantage of our work trip to Kansas City and catch the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

Barb, Dolores (pictured with DJB at left), Barb’s husband Rob, and Royce joined our hosts the Kempers for a great day at the ballpark.  Kauffman, built in 1973, is one of the earliest of the new modern baseball-only stadiums that helped turned Kansas City into a mecca for sports architects.  They just completed a major $250 million renovation before the start of this season.  The clean, modernist design has held up well and helped end the era of cookie-cutter multi-purpose stadiums.

With two architects and the rest preservationists in our group, we spent a lot of time talking about the architecture.   But we primarily spent the day having a great deal of fun.  From the beginning, the Royals have come up with some great activities that make you smile.  It was Kids Day at the ballpark and kids were in the mascot outfits that run the between-innings Ketchup, Mustard,  and Relish Race.   We sang along to songs with a sound system that didn’t burst your ear drums.  And we even got to see that rarest of plays that’s really fun – the successful suicide squeeze.  The Royals had four errors and still beat the Orioles.

Does it get any better than a sunny late spring day, knowledgeable fans/friends, a beautiful ballpark, and an entertaining baseball game?  The simple answer:  Nope.

More to come…

DJB