My (birth)day with the Royals

Every year during the Winter Meetings, MLB holds a charity auction around one particular group/cause and each team puts a handful of items/experiences up for grabs. I have been fortunate enough to be able to support these charities in the past, and was able to do so again last year. Today I had my "Spring Training Meet & Greet with the Team", and on my 35th birthday nonetheless.

I met my host/chaperone/babysitter at the security checkpoint on the Royals back practice fields around 10 am. Normally this is done by Mike Swanson, Royals VP of Communications and Broadcasting, but he is out with the WBC. The guy (also named Mike) runs through with me how the morning will go. Essentially I get to watch BP from the restricted area behind the fields and then they they will grab different players, staff, etc. to talk to.

First visit...the one and only George Brett. George looks tan...even for George. We talk for a few minutes about where I am from, what I'm doing there, where I am working, etc. and George could not have been nicer. He called me by name throughout our conversation, and then proceeded to tell me how I was part of the Royals Family and "F!@$%" this team or "F%!%$" that team, referencing the sports teams of the places I recently/currently live. It was as entertaining as you can imagine.

Most of the big league guys were done with BP by this point but since there was a split squad, there was another group taking BP on another field. I watched for a bit and took some photos, just soaking in the baseball. Then I was introduced to Dan Glass. This was unexpected; he was there with some of his family watching BP as well. We spoke for 15 minutes (recanting some of the same things I had told George like where Iive/lived, etc. etc. etc.). I asked Dan about his opinions on the changes which were made in attempt to speed up the games. Turns out he was on the committee that reviewed these options. Apparently they quickly became divided into two groups, the traditionalists and the progressives. While being very PC to a complete stranger, he indicated he was in the more traditionalist group. Ultimately he asked me a lot of questions about my experiences as a fan over the years and overall it was a very engaging conversation. My host Mike said he really enjoyed getting to hear some of that information from Dan as well. But Dan struck me as just a normal guy who happens to be the president of a MLB team.

Ned was next. Not much to say here, and that's just because he was obviously busy with the split squad and I didn't want to take up too much of his time. Mainly we talked about non-baseball things like hunting and fishing.

Here is where things take a bit of a surreal turn...

Mike needs to go run and grab my ticket from the "powers that be" that do those things. I said I would be perfectly content to sit on the bleachers and watch the remainder of the minor leaguers finishing up there BP. Well, they wrapped up after about 5-10 minutes or so, and the other folks in the area started to disperse and pretty soon there weren't that many people around. Dan Glass comes back over and sees me there and asks if all is OK and I fill him in on what's going on. Dan decides he will take this opportunity to take me around the complex buildings. This man had previously said his family was there visiting, but he wanted to take the time to show me around. As we head back towards the buildings, the one and only Art Stewart pulls up on his golf cart. I am fortunate to have also met Art previously and was able to talk to him about Joe Burke (former Royals GM I always used to sit by at Church when I was a kid). If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to talk to Art and to hear his stories, take advantage of it. Some of you that have done the fantasy camp can probably attest to that. We talk to Art for about 15 minutes and hear about the documentary that's being done on MLB scouting, and naturally, they wanted to talk to Art. It sounds like it should be VERY cool when it comes out.

We then head over to the equipment manager area to meet Chuck Hawke. Dan's family was there waiting for him to go eat lunch, but he sent them on ahead telling them he had something important he was taking care of and would be up in a bit. I want to really hammer this home...the president of an MLB team thought it was more important to show me around than to go right then and eat/spend time with his family. If that doesn't reinforce the culture of that team that we have heard so much about, than I don't know what does. I was very grateful that he even had taken the time to say hello let alone show me around. As they're showing me around, Dan asks Chuck if he can find a hat for me. So we wander over there, and Chuck starts handing me fitted hats to try on. I get one that fits like a glove (no baseball pun intended). At this point, I am pretty much in disbelief that this is happening. They just gave me a hat that some professional ballplayer could have worn, but instead it was going to be on my big dumb head.

Dan then takes me inside to the clubhouse area to go meet the Traveling Secretary but unfortunately, he wasn't available. This is when we run into Mike, who at this point I think was a little concerned that he had either lost me, or I had gone wandering of somewhere I shouldn't have been. He takes over and I can't thank Dan enough for the time that he spend showing me around. A real class act. But Mike had some pulled a trick out of his bag too..."Hey, do you want to see the clubhouse?" The guys had just come in from BP so they were eating lunch and just hanging out., so we were able to kind of poke our heads in a bit and take a peek. I know that in KC there are different tours and other opportunities to go into the clubhouse when nothing is going on, but to be able to do it when the players are in there?

At this point, we were about done because Mike had things to do to get ready to work the game, but I still didn't have my ticket, because Mike still hadn't gotten it. We make our way toward the main entrance to the building and hang out at the entrance waiting on a call from whoever had the ticket. Randomly got to talk to Rusty (not so sure he's a fan of the bobblehead, probably just doesn't like all the attention), Jeff Suppan and MITCH (who both couldn't have been nicer to come talk for a few minutes). I finally made it out to watch the game, and was able to score a Soler autograph during warm-ups.

So that was my day, or at least some of the highlights. I'd recommend checking out the items up for auction when the next winter meetings roll around. It's a great way to support things like Stand Up To Cancer or the Play Ball! initiative. Often times they are for a small group of up to 4 people, so you can even share the cost. And it gives you a unique opportunity to do something with the team.