Keep Your Ticket Stub: A new Kings of Kauffman series

As the new guy at Kings of Kauffman, I want to introduce myself with a story giving you an idea of what you can expect from me moving forward. With a degree in history and a minor in baseball (not formally recognized by any accredited university), I enjoy writing about baseball's storied past. But as much as we all enjoy reliving Salvador Perez walking Oakland off in the 2014 Wild Card Game or George Brett's dominant performance in Game Three of the 1985 ALCS, those kinds of moments are few and far between for even the most spoiled franchises, and I think we can all agree that KC Royals fans are far from spoiled.

The best KC Royals game I've ever seen

So, what I want do with this series is highlight the regular season games and accomplishments that make up the backbone of every KC Royals fan's experience. Some of these games will be more recognizable than others; none are likely to be the subjects of books or commemorative videos, with the possible exception of the Pine Tar Game, a baseball moment that has achieved the legendary status of an epic playoff game. But that's exactly the sort of thing we're going for here.

These are the kind of games that you bring up over and over when reminiscing about old glory days. They might seem meaningless in the big picture, but they're the triumphs that keep us engaged in between trophy presentations, which might take decades, as Royals fans can attest. And they're even more meaningful to us if we just happen to be in the stands. That's why I'm going to start us off by telling you about the greatest game I ever watched in person.

The game had a little bit of everything: an upset of a juggernaut team (or soon-to-be juggernaut, at least), superstars aplenty, positive and negative fan interactions, timely pitching, big knocks, an epic comeback, and of course, a walk-off dinger. So pull up a seat and I'll tell you a tale, and maybe you can tell me about the best game you ever saw when I'm done.