Paul Byrd is that rare professional athlete who understands adulation is best experienced when it is mutual. A group of Blue Valley students spent the summer in face paint and oversized beaks while holding up signs at Kauffman Stadium proclaiming their nosebleed seats "The Byrd Nest." Byrd not only routinely acknowledged his fan club members from the mound by flapping his arms and tipping his cap but also had cold bottled water delivered to their steamy perch. When his flock migrated to a road game in Detroit, Byrd took them all out for dinner. Byrd won 17 games for a Royals club that lost 99 games. Enough said.
