The Boys of... Spring

For the first time in many years, we had good weather for our Easter egg hunt this morning. In the recent past we've had a combination of wind, cold drizzle, and even hints of snow, which forced the Easter bunny to hide his eggs inside, but this morning was warm. When wishing for spring, I tend to look to the trees and bushes. The yellows and whites come out before anything else, but it's not until the reds and pinks show up that I know we are finally free of winter. That and opening day of the Major League baseball season.

With the smell of freshly cut grass still in my nostrils, I raced inside this evening and took the fastest shower of my life. Still dripping wet, I plopped down into my chair and turned on the television just in time to see the Boston Red Sox take the field against the hated New York Yankees. Opening day is always special because it's a clear sign that winter is finally over. Every year thousands of kids are called in sick on opening day. Unbeknownst to mom, dad helps his kid play hooky. They sit in the outfield bleachers, buy a five-dollar bag of peanuts from the vendor coming down the isle, and enjoy waching the boys of summer. This is a ritual that takes place in thirty unique cities aross this country. With the exception of tonight's early opener, all these cities will celebrate tomorrow.

So what is so great about opening day in a 162 game season? Every team is even. We know of a few certainties when it comes to baseball every year. A few teams will spend close to $200 million, and will make the playoffs. This group includes both the Red Sox and Yankees. Other clubs who try to outspend teams like the Red Sox and Yankees will fall considerably short of making the playoffs because of forces unseen and unknown. This group includes the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. Finally, a few teams will be out of contention by May because their owners don't care whether they win or lose. This group includes the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. This doesn't bode well for me because I grew up as a Royals fan.

Living in Western Kansas in the early to mid eighties, we grew up idolizing the great Royals. George Brett, Frank White, Bret Saberhagen, Dan Quisenberry, Willy Wilson, even Bo Jackson later on. Kansas City was a proud franchise. Every year the Yankees would be in it until the end, but many of those years, the team that slowed them, or even showed them the door was the Royals. I yelled at the umpire through the television when he called Brett out in the classic pine-tar game. I cheered from the upper deck when Dad took our little league team to see them beat up on the Athletics (before McGuire and Canseco tainted the game with Steroids.) I danced in Grandma and Grandpa's living room with Uncle Joe when they took the I-70 Series from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Then somewhere along the way they became irrelevant. Talent started to dwindle. Instead of having a roster loaded with unselfish talent (for KC is a nice community to live in and raise kids,) the roster started showing weaknesses. Star pitchers like David Cone (who was born and raised in KC) would work their way up the farm system and give a few good years to the Royals before either finishing out their contracts and moving on to better paying teams, or worse, the club would deal them to the Yankees for cash to help New York in their stretch run to another damned championship. Before long, Kansas City became a farm team for the more serious clubs, grooming talent and just giving them away for practically no fight and nothing to show for the effort. Now KC makes one or two trades in the winter to add a former "medium-sized" name like a Mark Grudzielanek or a Matt Stairs, while fielding the rest of the positions with players that should be starting for the AAA Omaha Royals. It's sad, oh so sad.

So on opening day, every year, I buy a newspaper and go straight to the sports section. I take a look at the standings and see five teams in the American League Central Division with the number "0" beside their names in the games-back column. Kansas City is one of them. I also smile as I see KC listed fourth out of those five teams because "K" comes before the "M" in Minnesota in the alphabet. By the time the red buds lose their color, "K" will fall after the "M" and never recover.

Today, while there's still time, I celebrate a former great franchise, the Kansas City Royals, for by this time tomorrow there won't be much to celebrate. By May I will just pray that the Red Sox can keep up with the Yankees.