Living Like Royalty

Through an unlikely but fortunate string of events, I wound up with 5 tickets to yesterday's Royals-Tampa Bay baseball game. But not just any seats - Crown seats. A few yards behind the homeplate umpire, buffet before the game, all you care to consume food and beverage during the game, brought to you by waitstaff.

Gold parking pass that put us between the two stadiums.

A 6-1 victory over Tampa Bay.

Hot weather, but plenty of beer and ice water to keep comfortable.

Most importantly, 4 good friends to share the game with.

The Crown seats are amazing, and I hope, if you're a baseball fan, you get to sit in them someday. Seeing the game with your eyes at the same level as the players' is really something special. I'm not sure I would ever pay the $185 face value, but it was nice to live like royalty yesterday.

Ridiculous

I'm a pretty smart guy, with a good set of priorities.

But it is ridiculous, perhaps even disturbing, how happy it makes me to see the Cardinals come from behind to beat the Cubs in the 9th. It makes me happier than it ought to.

Setting Benchmarks - How Many can the Royals Lose

The Royals have lost 10 in a row - a pretty impressive achievement of futility for a team that started the season with a sweep of the Tigers.

But let's not get too excited . . .

A few short years ago, the 2005 Royals managed to piece together a 19-game losing streak, and (seriously) toasted themselves with champagne when they completed the streak.

Lots of teams set their goal at winning 100 games. The Royals do, too, but they are content to take a couple years reaching that goal.

Play Ball!! Quarterly Campaign Finance Reports Time!

Political geeks like me love campaign finance reports. A baseball box score reveals secrets of strategy, individual performances, and key statistics, but only a tiny portion of the success of the season. Similarly, quarterly campaign finance reports provide enough hard facts to fuel gossip and speculation, but only a tiny part of what it takes to have a successful election season.

In the 44th District, for example, Jason Kander once again defeated Amy Coffman in an extremely close contest, continuing his sweep of the series. (Both defeated Mary Cosgrove Spence, who appears to be a shoo-in for Rookie of the year, but thus far has not shown much potential for the play-offs.) It was a tight battle, though, with Jason Kander edging Coffman out $16,110.15 to $15,075.00.

One troubling sign for the Coffman team is that they had to resort to their bullpen awfully early. As a lobbyist, Coffman was obviously going to resort to her lobbyist friends and their easy cash sooner or later, but I, for one, didn't expect her to call up the farm team in Jefferson City as early as March. But there it is - including campaign funds from the lobbyist dream team of school voucher flamethrowers, Flotron & McIntosh, LLC. Honestly, that is like throwing spit balls in a Democratic primary, but maybe she felt like she had to pull out a late-inning miracle.

Another curve ball from the Coffman side was a purchase of T-shirts from non-union CheapesTees.com, in Burlingame, California. Her website (which is a very nice one, by the way, now that it's up), claims that

I think we can agree that personal security begins with stable, well paying jobs for Kansas City’s working people. A healthy economy, strong labor unions and a vibrant business environment help families reach their economic and professional goals.

I know I agree, but it appears that some may be a little shaky on that one.

All told, it's only one box score, and this week's stats don't tell us what's going to happen in the World Series. The rookie could catch fire. Any of the teams could commit a crucial balk. The umpire could toss someone out for throwing bean balls, though all sides seem to be pitching strikes at this stage. Amy Coffman has attracted an impressive group of fans, including the current officeholder, and my favorite City Councilwoman.

To carry the analogy one final step, in this local race with three fine candidates, the ultimate winner may be decided by which one takes the most walks - door to door.

Foul Ball Fairness

Ancillary Adams reminisces about his appreciation of Rickey Henderson, but the story which provoked it raises a serious issue.

Be forewarned, little kids. If I catch a foul ball at a baseball game, I'm keeping it. I've wanted to do that since I was a little kid myself. When I see little kids going into the stadium with baseball gloves, I recall the disappointment and embarrassment I felt when one of my older friends told me it wasn't "cool" to bring my glove in anymore.

I've never caught one - I've never even come close. (When Sam was a little boy, a screaming line drive missed him by inches at a minor league park in Utica, NY, but I didn't even see it coming.) So, if I ever catch one, it will satisfy a wish I've carried inside me longer than I can remember. And if you come up to me with sad eyes and a baseball glove, don't expect me to put the ball in your glove. It ain't gonna happen.

Cards are On TV Tonight

I bleed Cardinals red.

In other news, there will be people selling newspapers tomorrow, and the money all goes to help kids. Go ahead, buy one or two, and pay what you can afford. Oh, and don't bother looking away and refusing to make eye contact if you don't want to buy one. Really, it's alright. Smile. Baseball season has opened.