Royals home opener still brings joy for old, young

The giddy joy of fans and players at the Kansas City Royals 2012 home opener drenched Kauffman Stadium, much like the unexpected sunshine that drove the clouds away long before Luke Hochevar’s 3:10 p.m. first pitch.

“I want to see a lot of blue in the stands today,” Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said before taking batting practice. “It’s my first home opener and it’s going to be exciting.”

Eric Hosmer, the young first baseman who so many fans believe will become the next big thing at The K, agreed.

“It’s been forever since we’ve been home,” said Hosmer, as the Royals opened the 2012 campaign with a six-game road trip to Los Angeles and Oakland. “It’s going to be great to hear the hometown fans.”

The excitement, though, quickly gave way to disappointment, as the Royals fell behind 7-0 in the first inning on the way to an 8-3 loss to the visiting Cleveland Indians (see page B1 for more on the game).

As Moustakas, Hosmer and their teammates took batting practice before the game, Royals general manager Dayton Moore took it all in from atop the dugout seats that give a perfect view of the well manicured field.

“This is always a special day,” said Moore, who is responsible for the wealth of young talent that has made the Royals one of the most talked about teams in the early stages of this season. “We have an allocation of young players who understand the importance of what we are trying to do here. These players are going to be a group fans can identify with for a long time.”

He can back that statement with the team’s recent commitment to 2011 Royals Player of the Year, Alex Gordon, who signed a four-year contract with an option year of his choosing.

“When I got here six years ago, I said our goal was to win a World Series,” added Moore, who watched the Royals’ 11-0 Game 7 win over St. Louis as a fan sitting on the hill off Interstate 70 back in 1985.

“We want to have a successful team, a winning record and we’re closer to achieving that goal this year than we were six years ago. We have exciting young talent on the major league roster and other players who are close to joining this team.

“By signing Alex, I think we have made a commitment to our fans. Alex developed into a very good player last year after struggling the previous four years. We have seen him deal with failure, and deal with success, and we like what we see.”

So does former Royals batboy Steve Winship, whose family lived next door to late manager Dick Howser, who guided the Royals to their lone World Series title.

“I haven’t missed an opener in 33 years,” said Winship, who served as a batboy from 1979 to 1984.

“I was at Graceland (College) in 1985 when we won the World Series. I came back for all seven games, but it was torture watching from the stands and not being able to be down on the field.”

A team that has offered little hope for success since that magical 1985 season offers much hope and promise in 2012.

“We haven’t had a lot to cheer about since 1985, but I think that might change this year,” said Winship, a graduate of Truman High School who is now the Patriots’ assistant tennis coach  “They are making a commitment to the young guys, and signing Gordon was big. We have the All-Star Game here in July so Kansas City is going to be getting a lot of national attention from the media, and I think this year there might be a lot of positive things to write about this team.”

While Winship was attending his 33rd consecutive home opener, it was Blake Roberts’ first.

“All the kids at the Freshman Center were leaving early today,” said Roberts, who is a freshman outfielder/pitcher for Blue Springs South. “They were all making up excuses, and my dad was the only guy who said, ‘I’m taking my son to the Royals opener.’ It was pretty cool.”

As he scanned the field from his front-row seat in Section 107, he shook his head and said, “This is the coolest thing ever. The atmosphere is amazing, I’ll never forget this day as long as I live.”