amelielizabeth

[amelielizabeth]

Thank you.

We had season tickets the summer of 2007. There were no lines to get in at Gate B, there never were; not even on bobble head giveaway games. I was just excited to be in the atmosphere of baseball, maybe meet Slugger, and eat my Dippin’ Dots. My dad had always been a diehard Royals fan, despite the skill level of our team at times.  Growing up, I knew we weren’t the best but we sure were in my book. Looking back on that season, we had a 76-88 losing record. We allowed 82 more runs than we had scored that year. As a family, my dad, mom, sister and I, attended every game that school permitted. We sat 4 rows back behind the dugout suite on the first base side. My excitement and anticipation walking into Kauffman was probably greater than anyone else entering or in the stadium. I didn’t care if we lost; I just loved the True. Blue. Tradition. After sitting down, I always waited for that particular song to come on. “Kickstart My Heart,” by Motley Crüe was the chosen song of the summer for field warm-ups. Once I heard the engine of that sound system motorcycle roar, I saw him.  Running out to centerfield was number 9, David Dejesus. I may have been slightly obsessed with him. My sister, loved our right fielder at the time, Mark Teahen. Oblivious to the fact that they wore the same number 24, I never understood why she liked someone that played right field, not centerfield (I was also nine years old.) At this time I didn’t understand the importance of winning or losing. All I knew at the end of each season was that I couldn’t wait to come back next summer and see the Royals play and Buddy Bell argue with yet another umpire. The next couple summers went by and I hadn’t been to a game. Life happened, we grew up, and my family grew apart. Next thing I knew it was 2012, and I had several Royals shirts, watched them on tv all the time, but hadn’t been to the stadium since it had been rebuilt in 2009. It was fun to watch on tv and see these new guys perform, but for me the magic wasn’t there. I didn’t enjoy “watching” baseball as much as I had five years ago. In 2014, I was of course a huge supporter still. I knew all the starters, I watched (almost) all the games, but I still wasn’t as enthusiastic about our team, or even baseball. Yes I loved them, but it was different. Then, the wild card game happened. Watching this team come back from a four run deficit, had the whole city feeling electric. What happened in that wild card game on September 30, 2014 was bigger than baseball. Now, of course we didn’t win that year, but we sure as hell did the next. For me, watching the Royals go to the World Series, TWICE was unforgettable. They didn’t just break the dry spell, they made my family, and my city, whole again. The team that I had grown up with had just done what I thought was impossible. 2015 World Champions. I used to yearn for the past, when I would sit in my seat at Kauffman and listen to “Summer of ‘69″ by Bryan Adams or “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, as our starters got stretched out and signed autographs. Now as I exited my 19th game of the season on October 1, 2017, I can’t help but feel a rush of nostalgic gratitude. I don’t know what the future will hold for this team. What I do know is Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and the rest of the players on the 2014/2015 teams, not only made a dream of mine come true; they made me fall in love with baseball all over again. 

[amelielizabeth]

the bond between two sisters, depending on who you talk to, is one of the greatest bonds you will ever find. it’s stronger than any relationship I have ever experienced & it does not get enough recognition for it’s ability to withstand the harshest of storms. “sisters before misters” does not mean...