Half a world away, a soldier fan savors the Royals’ success

Being half the world away hasn’t stopped one Kansas City Royals fan from savoring the team’s recent success and trip to the Fall Classic.

Myles Perry, an assistant Platte County prosecutor, has been watching from his post as a U.S. Army reservist in southern Afghanistan.

A lifelong Royals fan, the lieutenant colonel said he didn’t want to miss any of the team’s playoff drama despite the 10-hour time difference. So that’s meant missing out on a couple hours of sleep while getting up at 4:30 a.m. his time to watch those heart-pounding, game-winning home runs and breathtaking defensive gems.

“I’m loving every minute of watching the Royals,” Perry wrote in an email. “How can it not be fun to watch these guys? It seems that they’ve suddenly ‘clicked’ as a team and they are out there supporting each other and giving it their all and clearly having a great time while they do it!”

Military personnel can watch games through the Armed Forces Network, which is available in some offices, recreation areas, USO tents and the mess hall.

Perry has been in Kandahar since March, assigned to the Garrison Command at Kandahar Airfield, an installation with more than 20,000 military personnel. His unit provides food, housing, electricity, law enforcement and other basic needs for soldiers, contractors and others stationed there, Perry said.

“We are often referred to as a ‘mayor’s cell’ because our mission is very similar to what you would expect of local government for a town of 20,000 people,” he said.

In the regular season, Perry could catch only an occasional Royals game. But once the playoffs began, his unit could see nearly all the games. Sometimes the games were broadcast live, often in the middle of the night there. The games also were broadcast again the following afternoons.

Back in Platte County, Perry primarily prosecutes sex crimes. His resume includes securing a life prison sentence for Quintin P. O’Dell, who used a hatchet to kill a co-worker before attacking another woman who survived being disemboweled with a razor blade.

When Perry was unable to watch a Royals playoff game, he followed the play-by-play through Twitter feeds or Facebook postings by friends.

To him, nothing beats watching the games on television.

“It means that I get more chances to catch glimpses of home,’” he said. “The broadcasts typically show scenes from throughout the city and all over the ballpark, whether it be a picture at a local barbecue, a fountain or the Plaza.

“Not only do we get to see our team playing in the playoffs and now the World Series, we get to see our hometown enjoying this incredible sense of unity in celebrating ‘our’ team.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2014 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Half a world away, a soldier fan savors the Royals’ success."