Royals caravans and FanFest are this week
This will be a fun week for Royals fans.
First the Royals caravans will hit the road on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by FanFest on Friday and Saturday at Bartle Hall. When the doors close Saturday, it will be less than two weeks until spring training.
The Royals released the itinerary for the caravans (there are three of them)
but there have been a couple of changes since. Second baseman Johnny Giavotella is moving from the Blue Caravan to the White Caravan, and that means he won’t be part of the stops in Cameron, Mo., and St. Joseph, Mo., on Wednesday or the stops Thursday in Lincoln and Omaha, Neb.
Also, Danny Duffy won’t be with the White Caravan, which is going to Clinton, Springfield and Joplin, Mo., on Wednesday and then to Fayetteville, Ark., Coffeyville and Wichita, Kan., on Thursday.
Giavotella will replace Duffy. The Thursday stops in the White Caravan have a new participant: Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain.
Local stops on Wednesday night have been tweaked as well. Everett Teaford, Dennis Leonard and Ryan Lefebvre will be at Academy Sports + Outdoor, 9781 Quivira Rd., in Overland Park from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Ned Yost, Willie Mays Aikens and Steve Stewart will be at Academy Sports + Outdoor, 144405 W. 135th St., in Olathe, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
As for FanFest, 24 of the Royals’ 40-man roster will be on hand one or both days. They are: Lane Adams, Billy Butler, Lorenzo Cain, Louis Coleman, Tim Collins, Christian Colon, Aaron Crow, Wade Davis, Jarrod Dyson, Alcides Escobar, Alex Gordon, Jeremy Guthrie, Johnny Giavotella, Brett Hayes, Luke Hochevar, Greg Holland, Eric Hosmer, Donnie Joseph, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, James Shields, Everett Teaford, Jason Vargas and Yordano Ventura.
Three new Royals won’t be there: Norichika Aoki, Omar Infante and Danny Valencia.
However, manager Ned Yost and general manager Dayton Moore are expected. Announcers Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler and Steve Stewart are scheduled as well as a lot of former players.
A one-day pass for adults costs $13 (advanced sale) or $15 (day of sale), and for children ages 6 to 17, it’s $7 (advance) or $9 (day of sale). A two-day pass for adults costs $19 (advanced sale) or $23 (day of sale), and for youth it’s $10 (advance) or $13 (day of sale). Children 5 and under will be admitted for free.
Other notes: Autographs will be on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 150 fans for each session. No photographs with participants will be allowed during the autograph sessions, and fans will be limited to one item per participant.
For more information on FanFest and the the caravans, go to royals.com/fanfest.
This story was originally published January 26, 2014 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Royals caravans and FanFest are this week."