We headed over to Baseball City at a little before 11:00 AM. The facility wasn't all that impressive. A few practice fields and a Royals dormitory on the drive in. Besides that, it was just open land. The temperature was in the low 80's and it was dry and dusty. Mike and I each picked up a program with free baseball cards and a pen. The concourse around the stadium didn't have much- just an open concrete area with a few tables.
We first went down to the Phillies' dugout, where Mike Lieberthal was signing. Mike got a ball signed, but I wasn't as lucky. Mike Lieberthal was very nice talking to the fans. Mike and I then split up. I went towards the outfield down the third baseline and Mike hung out near the Royals' dugout. One fan wanted to get a ball from Nelson Figueroa, but he kept calling him something like "Figorill". Johnny Estrada mocked the fan by repeating to Figueroa what the fan had said. I found Johnny Estrada and had him sign his broken bat handle from batting practice the day before. Johnny commented on how we must have had a long drive (from Ft. Myers). While I hung out in the bleachers, there were two women with bikini tops on and softball gloves too big for their hands. They wanted the Phillies players to give them baseballs. The Phillies players wanted the women to flash them in exchange for baseballs. Jose Mesa, Tomas Perez, Jimmy Rollins, and others yelled across the field in Spanish- talking about the women refusing to show some skin. It was funny. I then had Jimmy Rollins sign my pine tar baseball from the game the day before. I told him that's where I got the ball. Jimmy wasn't at that game the day before though- he was watching his brother play in the Rangers' minor league system. He was nice as well- talking and joking with the fans.
While I was entertained in the bleachers, Mike had scored a George Brett autograph on an old American League baseball. George wasn't so nice, but at least Mike got him to sign. Mike and I then found some seats. We had seats behind the Royals' dugout in Row J, but we found some front row seats that nobody was using, so we stayed there. Before the game, the Royals' ballboys threw out many baseball cards in plastic packages. I grabbed a few of them. Mike and I took down the lineups. The announcer made a few mistakes, including calling Marlon Anderson "Marion". It turned out to be a good name, as Anderson played like a girl in the field with four errors. The two women next to us asked us to keep them protected from baseballs. The game was good- a little long, and ended in a 4-4 tie after 11 innings.
Marlon Anderson had the four errors, but also a stolen base and two hits. Lieberthal hit a homerun, as well as Raul Ibanez for the Royals. During the game, I caught a ball from the Phillies first base coach Scott. Mike thought he was going to get it, but I reached out a little further. Also, we nearly got pegged by an errant throw from Royals shortstop Angel Berroa. The ball bounced up and caught the pad in front of us. A couple of Twins fans behind us tried to make fun of us for not grabbing the ball, but it was still in play. We certainly could have. At the end of the game, I moved over to the other side of the Royals' dugout. I listened to Tony Muser and the other coaches talk about different players. It was very interesting. During this, there was almost a fight in the stands. After the game, Mike tried unsuccessfully to get his broken bat signed by Felipe Crespo. I went to the Royals side of the stadium and got Neifi Perez to sign my ticket. Some guy had Jeremy Affeldt sign about ten 8"x11" pictures. I didn't think the guy really intended to keep all of them. Mike saw Brandon Davis (Davidson class of 1997) and some Ohio State fan he had met the Thursday before. We left and headed to the 7-11 for some drinks. Then onto Lakeland.