By CHRIS RASMUSSEN
The Dodgers know general admission. So why don't the Royals?
Something other than the Royals offense was missing during KC’s 4-1 loss to Baltimore. I sat in the “Outfield Reserve” seats, the area formerly known as Left Field General Admission. The crowd was passive to the point of indifference, and it added to the dull, non-descript nature of the game itself.
Then it hit me: for all the talk of the return of the powder blue uniforms, why not bring back General Admission?
I sat in General Admission for some of the more memorable regular season games in Royals history. I was there when Willie Wilson helped clinch the AL West crown in 1985 with a game-winning single. And I witnessed an 18-inning game that began with Nolan Ryan and Bret Saberhagen and ended with GA fans suffering from sunburn and the effects of alcohol withdrawal.
When the Royals were successful (and even when they were not), the people seated in General Admission were, after several adult beverages, as entertaining as the game itself. Were they drunk and rowdy? Yes. Did the area resemble the bar in Star Wars on occasion? Absolutely.
Han would've sat in general admission.
Nevertheless, there was a camaraderie that existed in GA that is noticeably absent from Royals crowds in recent seasons. Fans cared about the team, in part because they saw each other every day or amused each other with their antics.
Most of all, sitting in General Admission was fun, something sorely missing from the current Royals experience.
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I am so bummed they got rid of GA. I guess the Royals wised up and figured out where the best seats in the house are.
The reason right field was favored is because of the bullpen. On hot days, Sabes and others would spray a hose into the stands.
Mike,
Its funny you just jogged a memory and I'm not sure if this is "real."
I remember that for years that right and not left field was considered the more "chic" section to sit. Then Bo came and all of a sudden everyone wanted to go to left.
The most electric I've ever seen Royals Stadium/the K after a home run?
There was a homer by Rey Sanchez that grazed the lf bullpen to provide the ROyals a win on a homestand where they won three or four in their last at-bat. This homer prompted Denny to scream out "what ON EARTH is going on!"
Agree with you on the old ga seats. Remember when the left side was "Bo's Left Field Lounge"?
And I remember one night sitting in the right field "bleachers" in a $5 seat (or whatever it was) during the "I believe" season when Ken Harvey smacked a homer (was it a grand slam? or is that wishful thinking)and the general admission crowd got as crazy out of control as I've ever seen the place. Absolutely nuts. If the opposing team would have hit a homer into the ga, that crowd would have thrown it back like they do at Wrigley.
General admission in the nosebleeds just ain't the same.
The reason the Kaufman GA section was too good to be true is that the seats are too good. I loved sitting out there in the GA days, but then I lived out of state for a few years and discovered that lower-bowl seats in the general vicinity of the foul pole are pretty high-priced seats in most parks. Even in St. Louis, for instance, the same seats are called "Outfield Field Box" and go for 39 bucks a game. The GA sections at Busch are worse seats than exist anywhere in Kaufman Stadium.
Admittedly, the Cards have actually won on occassion in the last 20 years, and they have fans that show up to do more than just get the promotional giveaway and then leave. I'd love to see GA come back, and I'd like to see a franchise like the Royals realize that they'd bettter keep the die-hards happy, but I'm not holding my breath.
Chris Rasmussen, are you reading my mind? I have been to approximately four games since the abolition (extermination!) of GA a few years ago, and not just because being hospitalized to pass kidney stones was a more positive experience.
The problem is that they flat-out offended a lot of fans. They obviously had no idea what GA meant to many, many loyal Royals fans. Those people are now treated like royalty to cheer on a fake sport called Arena Football, while Johnson County soccer moms foist 2,000 calories of sugar on their brats who are sitting there playing gameboy. It is a disgrace.
Their rationale was that it will make them an extra $1 million per year. Well, good luck with that. Even JoCo soccer moms will eventually stop driving their earth movers (Suburban, Expedition, etc) to games when gas hits $4.50 per gallon.
I like the idea, but clearly I'm bitter.
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