Sam Gould, longtime parking attendant for Blues, A’s and Royals games, dies at age 98
Sam Gould, who ran Sam’s Stadium Parking at Municipal Stadium for 22 years and became a fixture for Kansas City baseball fans, died Sunday at the age of 98.
Gould grew up across the street from the now-demolished stadium at 22nd and Brooklyn and as a child sold newspapers there, worked as a batboy, cleaned up, sold popcorn and peanuts, and fetched sandwiches for players. He remembered Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the rest of the New York Yankees coming to play an exhibition game after a World Series.
“I’ve been a baseball nut since day one,” he told The Star in 2014. “How could I not be? It was right across the street.”
After helping watch cars as well, Gould opened his parking business behind the left-field fence in 1950, when the Kansas City Blues, the Yankees’ minor-league team, played at Municipal. He charged 35 cents a car for a Blues game, 75 cents for the major-league Athletics when they arrived in 1955 and as much as $1.25 by the Royals’ final season at Municipal Stadium in 1972. He later added lots. He would work one parking lot while his wife, Lucy, who died in 1992, worked another.
He also supervised parking at the Truman Sports Complex, taking pride that everyone was in their seat by kickoff for the first Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium in 1972.
Gould also made generous contributions to the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, including helping with new lights for the ball fields. He was also a member of Kehilath Israel Synagogue and served as president in 1973 and 1979.
According to an obituary provided by the family, Gould was preceded in death by “fellow superstars Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth,” as well as his parents and wife. Survivors include Gould’s daughter, Susan Barrows, as well as his companion, Leah Gladstone.
“The family would like to extend a special thank you to all the wonderful caregivers who helped Sam during these last few years,” part of the family’s obituary read, “and to Denny Matthews for providing Sam with the play-by-play. … Great game Sam!”
Services will be at noon Thursday at Louis Memorial Chapel, with burial to follow at Kehilath Israel Blue Ridge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Jewish Community Center, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy or Kehilath Israel Synagogue.
This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Sam Gould, longtime parking attendant for Blues, A’s and Royals games, dies at age 98."