By Darryl Houston Smith
League 4
League 10
Cory Schwartz often says that those of us who play fantasy baseball know more about the game than those who don’t - I’m paraphrasing a bit, admittedly.
And while I agree with him, pouring over stats and considering trades shouldn’t be our only focus. There are many stories behind the scenes that we need to keep an eye on … because their impact on our fantasy teams may be greater than we imagine. I bring you one such tale.
In the Summer of 1967, the good people of Jackson County, Missouri agreed to put up the money for a new baseball stadium for the Kansas City Athletics. As fate would have it, before construction could even begin, the ever-impatient Charlie Finley moved his team to Oakland. This left Kansas City without a major league baseball team for the first time since 1955.
Incensed by Finley’s betrayal, Missouri Senator Stuart Symington (D) demanded a new franchise for Kansas City and even threatened to introduce legislation to remove baseball’s antitrust exemption if the powers-that-be did not swiftly comply with his demands. Baseball, of course, caved in and rather quickly authorized four new expansion teams and awarded one of its new franchises to Kansas City. This franchise became known as the Kansas City Royals.
Forty years later, 2008 finds the Kansas City Royals in the midst of a major stadium renovation. This $250 million project began last October and is scheduled to be 90% complete by the 2009 home opener … with the final stages finished by the 2009 All-Star break. Kauffman Stadium, home to the Royals since 1973, was originally built for $43 million and was 100% publicly financed. The current renovation is 90% publicly financed with the team itself responsible for any cost overruns in addition to its $25 million initial contribution. This unique stadium has long been one of baseball’s showcases, and these renovations will allow the Royals to keep playing there for years to come.
Most of the changes are designed to increase revenue by making the ballpark more attractive to the fans that attend games there and the advertisers hoping to reach them. Highlights include: a new crown-shaped high definition scoreboard … which will be the largest in North America; fountain view terraces; wider concourses throughout the park; stairs to replace ramps; and a new outfield concourse that will allow fans to walk 360 degrees around the stadium.
In left field, a permanent Hall of Fame exhibit will be installed, and a new massive scoreboard will be constructed. There will also be an addition of 39,000 brand new seats, many with added leg room, comfort, and improved visibility - currently, many upper-deck seats, near the foul poles, are in relative darkness.
The “Little K” miniature baseball park, complete with a batting cage and various other baseball-related activities for kids, will be moved to within the stadium. The players will be treated to new bullpens and bigger dugouts, and the press will get new facilities, too. All of these changes will be made in such a way so that the Royals will not need to relocate or be forced to endure any extended road trips during construction.
But for fantasy baseball players, the biggest change the stadium will undergo might be the moving of the outfield fences. This season, the outfield fences in the power alleys will be moved back 5 feet from 385 to 390 feet.
This is not the first time that the Royals have toyed with the fences. The last time the power alley fences were moved was for the 2004 season when they were relocated ten feet further back. Even though this change also returned the ballpark to its original dimensions, the Royals still lacked the necessary talent to take advantage of this change in any meaningful way, and, as everyone anticipated, the Royals sole power source back then, Carlos Beltran, was traded in mid-season.
In 2008, the Royals again will have few players able to make an impact on your fantasy team. The one pitcher who might benefit from the relocation of the fences is Zack Greinke. Greinke gives up a lot of fly balls, and the added 5 feet may help to keep a few of those balls in the park. Maybe he’ll even post some slightly better ratios.
Despite having what many feel is the Major League’s best hitting background, fewer homers have been hit in Kauffman Stadium than in all but a handful of Major League stadiums. It would be surprising if Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and Jose Guillen manage to hit more than 70 home runs combined this season.
Since winning the World Series in 1985, the Royals have failed to make the playoffs for twenty-two straight seasons. In the case of the Royals, it has always been more about the level of talent that plays in front of those walls … and less about the walls’ distance from home plate.