Game 25 - Royals vs Mariners at Kauffman Stadium

September 10, 1996

The Kansas City Royals came into the Majors as an expansion team in 1969 along with the Seattle Pilots, now known as the Milwaukee Brewers. Both Kansas City and Milwaukee had earlier Major league franchises. Kansas City's was owned by the late Charles O. Finley and was famous for having a mule named "Charlie O" who paraded around the outfield before and after games. Kansas City was home for the Athletics from 1955, when they moved from Philadelphia, through 1967, when they left for Oakland, California The city and the Royals have one World Championship to their credit, as mentioned earlier, in 1985. The Athletics never won a title in Kansas City during their tenure.

We drove to Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals play, which is right off Interstate 70. It has lots of parking available. The baseball stadium is adjacent to Arrowhead Stadium, where they use a ball made of pigskin and play a different sport.

The baseball stadium is very attractive. It is a three level facility with sky boxes set back on the second level. There are no bleacher seats in the outfield, as it is open with beautiful green grass, flowers and dancing fountains. It also features a Jumbotron for viewing the action and a huge electronic scoreboard. We were able to see the traffic, through the opening in the outfield, as it moved along Interstate 70, from our seats directly behind home plate about 30 rows up. They also feature real grass which adds to the game, but they have orange painted seats in the lower level that dosen't seem to fit with the baseball atmosphere. The fans in Kansas City were not very enthusiatic and had to be encouraged to cheer for the home town boys.

For today's game, the Royals sent rookie pitcher and starter Jose Rosado to face the Mariner's starter, Solomon Torres. The Royals scored first in the second inning with a double and two poductive outs and lead 2-0 after a slow start for both clubs. The score remained 2-0 through five innings. In the top half of the sixth, Seattle's Edgar Martinez blasted a Jose Rosado fastball and parked it over the left field fence for a two run homer and the score was knotted at two apiece. It didn't stay that way for long , as Bob Hamelin drove a Solomon Torres pitch well over the center field fence and the Royals regained the lead at 4-2. Rosado was pulled after seven strong innings and relievers Bob Scanlan and Jamie Bluma pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to secure the Royals win.

Notes:

• Final Score: Kansas City 4, Seattle 2.
• Winning Pitcher: Jose Rosado.
• Losing Pitcher: Solomon Torres.
• Save: Jamie Bluma.
• Home Runs: Edgar Martinez (Seattle) and Bob Hamelin (Kansas City).
• Time: 2:37.
• Attendance: 12,499.
• Temperature: 77.
• Gas Prices: $1.12/gal.

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