Fans can’t linger long at Kauffman
OK, there hasn’t been a lot of Royals’ games lately that made fans want to stay at the park and bask in the afterglow.
But when that does happen — as it did when a walk-off homerun by David DeJesus carried the Royals past Seattle on July 12 — some people like to hang around.
Melissa Hall of Odessa, Mo., thinks the Royals are too quick to shoo people out.
In a letter to the editor in The Star a few days ago, Hall said Royals’ employees rushed her family out of Kauffman less than 10 minutes after DeJesus’ blast that Saturday night.
The fountains were still going, the evening was unusually cool for July and the Hall family decided to enjoy it all for a spell. Then, someone came along and said “have a good night folks, time to head for your cars,” Hall said this week.
In her letter, she called the staff “rude and discourteous.”
The letter got the attention of the Royals and Chris Richardson, director of event operations and guest services.
Richardson said he isn’t sure how long the Hall family was allowed to stay in the park that night but he said employees have since been reminded to wait 15 minutes before asking people to leave.
“The staff may have jumped the gun,” Richardson said.
The team wants the stadium cleared as soon as possible because cleaning crews have to remove aisle debris so that the floors can be washed down at 6 a.m. the next day, Richardson said.
Sweep-up is done by hand, starting with collection of plastic bottles and recyclable cardboard containers, Richardson said. After that, trash is picked up and brought to large containers for compacting.
Hall wasn’t very satisfied with the explanation. She said she has been to other stadiums and to Kemper and other arenas where fans could stay longer.
I sort of agree with Hall on this one. On occasional games when I’ve lingered at the park, it seems like the Royals’ staff does not wait 15 minutes before asking people to leave. Maybe they just want to go home themselves.
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People bored by today’s one-sided game against Detroit had something else to watch. Backhoes and other construction equipment were moving around beyond both outfield fences as stadium construction continued. You don’t see that during weeknight or weekend games. Bob Rice, vice president of ballpark operations and development, said the team wants to keep work crews on schedule.
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The Royals only scored one run today, but it came in the right inning for fans. The 7th inning tally means that everyone at the game can bring their ticket stub to a Sheridan’s Frozen Custard outlet in Kansas City and get a small hot fudge sundae for free within seven days.
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