Royals charity event to blame for brown spots in Kauffman Stadium outfield, forcing repairs

Kauffman Stadium’s normally pristine outfield was blighted by brown spots during the Royals’ last home stand, but the club expects the field to be rehabbed by the time the team returns.

The Royals’ charitable arm held its Diamond of Dreams fundraiser on the field June 23 before the Royals played a five-game home stand against Houston and St. Louis.

“We raised $350,000 for the military, but we certainly left our mark on the field at Kauffman Stadium,” said Royals vice president of community affairs and publicity Toby Cook, who said the money raised from the event will benefit the USO, Folds of Honor and reStart and families at Whiteman Air Force Base, Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley.

During the event, Daughtry, a rock band featuring former American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, performed on a stage erected in center field, food stands and bars ringed the warning track and sponsorship tents were set up in an arc that stretched toward second base.

The stage and the anchors for those tents killed some grass. Trevor Vance, the Royals’ director of groundskeeping, dismissed painting the brown spots because it prevents the grass from proper recovery.

Before last summer, Diamond of Dreams took place on the infield, but it was moved to the outfield to allow for more space.

“We loved the set up, but it just got hotter than blazes in the days leading up and we put Trevor and his grounds crew in a bad spot,” Cook said.

The damage is expected to be fixed before July 7, when the Royals begin a four-game homestand with the Mariners heading into the All-Star break.

Cook said he isn’t sure whether some areas will have to be resodded, but Vance “says that you won’t even know that it’s there when the team comes back into town.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Royals charity event to blame for brown spots in Kauffman Stadium outfield, forcing repairs."