Remembrance of Royals’ Krispy Kreme promotion in 2000s strikes a chord with KC fans
Until the Royals’ playoff appearances in 2014 and 2015, there may have been no more electric time for fans born in the 1980s or later than in April 2003.
The Royals were coming off a 100-loss season, and expectations were more of the same in 2003. Instead, the Royals opened the season with nine straight wins and at one point had a 16-3 record.
That included a victory over the Tigers on April 19 that was notable for what fans were yelling at Kauffman Stadium. The Star reported Michael Tucker’s sixth-inning single was the team’s 11th hit — and that’s when Royals faithful began chanting, “donuts, donuts.”
Angel Berroa opened the eighth inning with a single for the Royals’ 12th hit of the game, and fans went nuts because it triggered perhaps the greatest promotion in franchise history.
Starting in 2003, fans who were at a Royals home game could get a dozen free donuts the following day if KC had 12 hits (ticket stub required).
Unfortunately for the Royals, that hot start didn’t result in a playoff berth and three more 100-loss seasons followed. After the 2006 season, the Krispy Kreme promotion came to an end.
Many Royals fans have fond memories of the Krispy Kreme giveaway, including Taylor Kay Phillips, a comedy writer in New York. She grew up in Kansas City and shared a Twitter thread Monday in which she recalled those sugar-infused days as a 10-year-old who attended games with her family.
“It was,” she wrote on Twitter, “the greatest summer of my life.”
Phillips wasn’t the only one with fond memories. That thread has gone viral in Kansas City and so far has exceeded 2,000 likes and more than 100 comments.
“I was very surprised and very touched (by the response),” Phillips said in a phone interview. “It was very fun reading all of these people’s stories who remember it better than I do because I was 10.”
Those trips to The K and then to Krispy Kreme are etched in Phillips’ memory.
“We would go at like 8 in the morning the next day ... but one night we went that night,” Phillips said. “My dad actually commented, and I had forgotten, but one night, we drove to Krispy Kreme and waited in the parking lot until we heard confirmation of the 12 (hits).”
Phillips said she can see Yankee Stadium from her apartment in the Harlem but remains true to the Royals. She wore a Salvador Perez shirt to her first stand-up gig to remind her to have fun.
Still, Phillips doesn’t closely follow the Royals like she did as a kid.
“I definitely know more about the early 2000 Royals than the current Royals,” she said with a laugh.
“We went to spring training in the spring of 2004, and that was just such a nice group of guys. I remember as a kid, Mike Sweeney told my sister who had a lot of freckles that his mom told him that each freckle was a kiss from God. We still remember that. ... It was just such a great time to be a baseball fan.”
Like most good things in life, the Krispy Kreme promotion eventually came to an end. It was followed by a disastrous and short-lived bagel promotion.
But Phillips’ remembrance of those Krispy Kreme days made an impact on Royals fans.
Here is what she wrote:
These were some of the responses, starting with one from Bob Dutton, who covered Royals that season for The Kansas City Star.
That’s a lot of donuts ... and a lot of happy memories.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Remembrance of Royals’ Krispy Kreme promotion in 2000s strikes a chord with KC fans."
