Fresh Fish! Welcoming a New Writer

While the Royals are cutting players, we’re going to add to our roster.

I’ve been looking to expand for a while now and thankfully that opportunity has arrived.

Ladies and gents, let’s all welcome Ryan Wood to Kings of Kauffman as our newest contributing writer.

As is tradition here at Kings of Kauffman, I’ll let Ryan tell you where he’s coming from:

Hi everyone, my name is Ryan Wood and I am excited to be the newest contributing writer for Kings of Kauffman.  Baseball has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, so I’m looking forward to sharing my viewpoint with whoever takes the time to stop by and read.Like many of us who cling on as Royals fans, my history with the team started back in 1985.  I was eight years old and my grandmother surprised me with a blue mesh trucker hat promoting the upcoming “I-70 World Series”.  I thought it was pretty sweet & wore that hat a lot.  Believe me, I know what you’re thinking, and no – I don’t know where that hat is today.  It would be a lot cooler if I did…I grew up on a farm in Southwest Iowa, and the closest professional baseball team was the Omaha Royals.  We would try to make it to a few games every year, and I did my best to keep tabs on the future stars I saw on the field.  Sadly though, my best memories of Omaha Royals games were probably some of the post-game concerts that I saw there.  Huey Louis & the News, The Beach Boys, and my all time favorite concert – Weird Al Yankovic AND The Monkees.After playing college baseball, I earned a tryout with the Royals that was to be held at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.  However, as fate should have it, the tryout was cancelled due to rain and I never got another chance.  After a failed attempt with the Kansas City T-Bones, I hung up the cleats and became a full-time fan.In the past ten years, I’ve experienced several memorable moments at the K.  From great times with friends, cheering for one more hit to make a dozen hits (for a free dozen donuts), yelling for Relish to run faster in the Hot Dog Derby, and seeing my 30th birthday greeting on the old scoreboard.  All were great times, but in 2004, the best came when I married my college sweetheart and we had our wedding reception at Kauffman’s Stadium Club.  The wedding party came up out of the dugout & we all got to walk onto the field, waving to our friends and family who were completely surprised.  The pictures taken show a smile on my face reserved for childlike delight.  I think about that night every time I walk through the turnstiles.As far as my writing philosophy, I hope to come at this thing from a different point of view.  As someone who is passionate about the game and spent soooo many years playing, I feel like I can bring a player’s perspective to the ups and downs of a 162 game season.  You probably won’t find me buried in the stat book, but rather, analyzing the aspects of the game that I find entertaining, challenging, and important.  I’m going to try and pawn some of my opinions and thoughts onto the readers of this blog rather than my wife – I just hope that you won’t argue with me the way she does…So, I hope you enjoy reading my articles as much as I enjoy writing them.  May this season be an exciting one and we all get to go along for the ride.  Here’s to a great summer – talk to you soon!Cheers,Ryan

You can follow Ryan on Twitter at @AreDoubleYou14.