The Ballgame – Kansas City's Baseball Radio Show

Moments before we went on air for our 19th show, we were met with the news that legendary Royals broadcaster Fred White passed away. Fred was a member of the Royals family for over 40 years.  We spoke with Royals Hall of Famer, 2 time Cy Young Award Winner and 1985 World Series MVP Bret Sabehagen about Fred, his career in Kansas City and his upcoming appearance on June 20.  Bret shared some great stories about 1985, when he was only 21 and his time with co-host Greg Pryor.

We then spoke with Kansas City Star Cartoonist and Royals Blogger Lee Judge about the clubhouse energy with the 2013 Kansas City Royals. He also shared some Fred White stories.

The Ballgame is on every Wednesday from 4-5 PM on ESPN 1510 AM in Kansas City and all shows are podcasted on theballgamekc.com.

This week, we spoke with five-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glover and Royals Hall of Famer, Amos Otis. A.O. talked with us about telling lies, corking bats and the rest of his storied career where he was inarguably the greatest Center Fielder in Royals franchise history.

Catch The Ballgame every Wednesday on ESPN 1510 AM from 4-5 PM and interact with the show on Facebook and Twitter at /theballgamekc.

Some days, it’s pretty easy to make it into the studio. Today’s show was one of those days. We spent the hour first talking about dressing up with Brett Thomas who is hosting a “Dress to the Nines” day at Kauffman this Sunday. We then spent the next 30 minutes talking about the most clutch hit in Royals history with the man who hit it, 1985 World Series Game 6 Hero, Dane Iorg spent the episode with us talking about that series, plus his 1982 Championship with the St. Louis Cardinals and how he turned it around to beat those same Cardinals in 1985. Dane and fellow 1985 Champ Greg Pryor caught up on anecdotes and stories.  At the end of the show, we were surprised with a call from Hall of Famer George Brett who spent 20 minutes on one of the coolest 3-way calls you’ll ever hear.  This is one you’ll want to hear all the way through.

The Ballgame airs weekly on Wednesdays from 4-5 on ESPN 1510 in Kansas City, 1510.com and TuneIn Radio for your smartphones. Catch us on Twitter and Facebook at /theballgamekc as well as our website www.theballgamekc.com.

We were graced by three World Champions on this show. Of course, our resident Champion, Greg Pryor along with Chris Kamler and Jeff Logan welcomed 42 year veteran of professional baseball, former Royals player, manager, broadcaster, scout and now instructional coach, John Wathan. We spoke with “The Duke” about his long career with the Royals in just about every capacity.  John shared with us some stories about his career, but also his impressions of this year’s Royals.  We then spoke with 1983 World Series Champion Mike Boddicker. Mike was also a pitcher with the Royals in 1991 and 92.  Boddicker talked to us about his career, playing with Cal Ripken, Jr. and a once-in-a-lifetime dinner with Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

The Ballgame is on ESPN 1510 AM in Kansas City every Wednesday from 4-5 pm. You can interact with the show on our website theballgamekc.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook at /theballgamekc.

Greg Hall, left, participated, then survived, Monday’s Boston Marathon.

We’ve spent three months talking about baseball here on The Ballgame, but we broke from format on today’s show to talk about what’s been on the minds of all Americans, the twin bombings at the Boston Marathon. Jeff Logan and Chris Kamler spoke with someone who was not only a participant in the marathon, but also a witness to history. Local media blogger and software engineer, Greg Hall of greghallkc.com spoke with us for the hour about what he experienced, what he saw and what the resiliant people of Boston. Greg talked about his time (3:28 and not a minute longer!) and also talked about the role of social media in an unfolding situation.  This was a very special show and we thank the Kansas City Baseball Historical Society for letting us tell this story.

Join us every week on ESPN 1510 AM on Wednesday’s from 4-5 as we talk about Kansas City Baseball (and a few other things) and catch us on theballgamekc.com, facebook.com/theballgamekc and twitter.com/theballgamekc.

We were thrilled to have “The Joker” Joe Randa in studio for the entire hour on this week’s edition of The Ballgame on ESPN 1510 AM. Both Chris Kamler and 1985 World Series Champ Greg Pryor talked with Joe about his career, playing on winning and losing teams, hitting walkoffs and how all of that relates to the current (first place) Kansas City Royals. Thaks to Joe for giving up an entire hour to speak with us.

You can hear The Ballgame every week on ESPN 1510 AM Wednesdays from 4-5 PM, 1510.com or any time on demand on TheBallgameKC.com. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook at /TheBallgameKC.

“Joe Randa, former Royals Third Baseman joined us to talk about our (first place) Royals team, his career and just basically hang for an hour. Hear then entire show at http://www.theballgamekc.com/ballgame-show-14-joe-randa/”

From Show 14 – Joe Randa, posted by The Ballgame on 4/11/2013 (6 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2

By Chris Kamler

Kauffman Stadium turned 40 years old this week. I also turned 40 this year. She looks a helluva lot better than I do. And it is the small changes, the little tweaks that has made her improve so much with age. One thing you’ll notice are the huge TIDE ads missing from the giant wells in the upper deck. Those were tacky and simply unnecessary. There’s a fine line between gaudy advertising and name recognition. I’m glad they’re gone.

Kauffman Stadium remains my most favorite location on the planet. And it is the greatest gift I can pass along to my son. He and I went to Opening Day today and to see him navigate the Kauffman crowd, enjoy the proper way to eat a hot dog (although we fight over ketchup or mustard) and show him the finer skills of checking out the hot ballpark girls without staring is something I’m most proud of.

The Crown Vision continues to be the most glorious piece of electronics I’ve ever seen. And the pregame festivities with the countdown, the fireworks off of the crown and the sound system are incredible. A team of about a dozen men and women come up with the content for this board and they do an incredible job.

I generally stay away from Kauffman beer since I don’t want to take a second mortgage out on my house, but I did notice that there has been a change with the large sodas. We like to get the souvenir cups and those usually run $6 or $7. Well, this year, they are still $7, but they come with a sticker for a free refill on soda. This automatically will save us $20 each game.

On the downside, cellular service still is beyond terrible on games with more than 10,000 people there. I have AT&T service, and as soon as the first pitch happened, smartphone service went in the toilet. You can save me as much money as you want on Dr. Peppers, but if Daddy can’t tweet, Daddy ain’t comin’ out to the game. Twitter has simply changed the way I (and many others) watch the game. We need it at all times. IF that sounds codependent, it’s because it is.

There was no B2 Bomber flyover like there had been in years past. Blame Obama. That’s the extent of my political commentary. Check the other 3 boxes on this page.

Turning to the product on the field, at least through 7 games, you have to be impressed. Not necessarily because of the pitching, which has been inconsistent. Or the hitting, which has been inconsistent. Or even the defense and speed, which are improved, but inconsistent. It is how Ned Yost has managed to orchestrate these inconsistencies and clearly put forth a product with a “win now” mentality. He is learning game to game rather than month to month like in years prior and you have to be impressed with the product so far.

The proof is in the pudding, but with such a beautiful stadium to play in, a re-energized fanbase and a slogan that might actually match the team (#ComeToPlay), this might be a fun year to be a Royals fan.

“Opening Day (Home Opener) for the Royals resulted in a come from behind win against the Minnesota Twins as the Royals scored 3 runs in the 8th to win 3-1. But the home opener is rarely about wins and losses, and more about reconnecting with friends, a stadium and a ballclub. Go Royals.”

From Royals Opening Day 2013, posted by Chris Kamler on 4/08/2013 (20 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher 2

We started our program recapping the second loss of the season for the Kansas City Royals which had finished moments earlier.  Everyone expects the Royals to do better this year, but Jeff, Greg and Chris were all a little split on what “better” meant.  We spoke with Greg Pryor, 1985 World Champion, about his experiences on opening day and how critical youth coaches are to the game of baseball.
The Ballgame is on every Wednesday on ESPN 1510 AM and 1510.com. Check us out live or on demand on www.theballgamekc.com.

We take our final week of Spring Training and pass the baton around as we talk with a number of folks this week about the great game of baseball.  We talk with Bethany Heck of EephusLeague.com who has developed a new scorebook for those who still use the dying art of keeping score at a baseball game. We talk with Fred Uhe of Sarpy County, Nebraska about a new Bob Gibson statue going up at Werner Park in Omaha where the Royals AAA Omaha Stormchasers play.  Finally we talk with Michael Engel of KingsOfKauffman.com about what to expect from the 2013 Kansas City Royals.  We finish the show with a look back at interviews with John Mayberry and George Brett.  Keep an eye out for us every week on Wednesday’s on ESPN 1510 AM from 4-5pm.