Standoff nearly kept Royals-Pirates off TV, which could have resulted in postponement
Saturday’s armed standoff at the Truman Sports Complex forced a delay in the Royals-Pirates game, and not only because some players arrived later than expected at Kauffman Stadium.
The Pirates’ bus was delayed in leaving the team hotel, but the players arrived at the stadium ahead of the scheduled 6:05 p.m. start. At that point, the Royals were already in their clubhouse.
But there was a concern the game might not be played because the Fox Sports Kansas City crew couldn’t get to their trucks in Lot B. The worry was the man who shot at Arrowhead Stadium employees might be in range of the FSKC workers as well.
Without television, there was a chance Saturday’s game could have been canceled.
The Pirates radio and television announcers don’t travel to away games and depend on a local team’s broadcast to call games. That couldn’t have happened without a broadcast.
More importantly, the umpires wouldn’t have had access to replay, which is an important element of the game.
Fortunately, the decision to postpone didn’t have to be made. Kansas City police secured the area around the trucks about an hour before first pitch, which was pushed back 30 minutes. Employees who were congregated in Lot J received a police escort to Lot B.
The FSKC employees, about 18 of them, usually arrive around four hours before first pitch. On Saturday they had approximately 60 minutes of preparation to broadcast the game. The Royals pregame show was canceled.
“There was a motorcade of cars led by one police car to get them all over to Lot B,” said Mike Swanson, the Royals’ vice president of communications and broadcasting. “There were a lot of concerns about getting on the air.
“They really did a heck of a job. I’m really proud of them for getting this on the air. There was some time when we had some doubts. Hats off to them.”
The man was arrested before first pitch.
