On Baseball and Bunnies

I have this theory about the relationship between the success of the Kansas City Royals and me. I am convinced that when I am around they do well, and when I am not they don't. This is a theory that dates back to the days of my youth and the glory days of the Kansas City Royals organization. My family loves the Kansas City Royals. Some of my favorite possessions of my youth are Royals memorabilia ... the autographed photo that UL Washington sent to me where he apologizes for sending a picture that included Willie Wilson on it, and the autograph of Mark Gubicza that my friend drove all the way to Kansas City to get for me because I was such a megafan and was unable to go myself ... I'm sure I was probably grounded at the time or something (thanks Tim! ... for the autograph, not the grounding). Despite what must have cost a small fortune to a large family with only the single income of a high school teacher to support us, we would always attend at least one live Royals game every year ... and every time we attended they would win. Every single time. No matter who they played, whether it was the nasty New York Yankees or the latest top-of-the-crop team, our Royals team would win. This would happen even when the situation of the game seemed absolutely hopeless. My favorite live game experience was  game against the Milwaukee Brewers where both teams headed into the ninth inning scoreless. The Brewers promptly scored four runs, and things looked hopeless. The ballpark immediately began to clear out, but not my family, We had paid for a full game, and, by golly, we were going to see a whole game. So we sat with maybe a thousand other people, waiting to see our team go down in defeat. But what they didn't realize was that I was there in the ballpark with whatever mojo I possess that brings good luck to the Royals. What did they do? They scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth and won the game. So exciting! So anyway ... the Royals continued to do very well as a team as long as I was living in Carrollton, but about the time that I moved to south Missouri to go to college their string of successful years ended. I had moved to Cardinal country, and I didn't follow my home team much any more. Still, even with their recent troubles I would still notice that they would do really well whenever I stopped to watch a game. I became further convinced of my value to the team as a bringer of good luck.

Mike Moustakas

Well, this weekend we spent time hanging out with my parents and my brother, Ryan. They remain solid Royals fans, through the good and the bad, and they make sure to always watch the Royals play whenever they are on television. I have not kept up with how the team is doing this year, and as we sat I was surprised at the slumps some of the players are in. Two of the team superstars are really struggling. When I saw Mike Moustakas come to plate I couldn't believe that he only had a .130 batting average for the season. I thought that only national league pitchers had batting averages that low. My dad explained that he has really been having a rough year and can't seem to connect with anything. At that at-bat he hit a ball to right field that was caught for an out. I knew things must really be bad for him when the Royals announcer said, "I know it was an out, but it is a good sign that he was able to hit a ball out of the infield." Ouch. That's rough. Right then and there I decided that I would root for him personally that night. Whether the Royals won or not, I didn't care. I just wanted Mike Moustakas to do well. I turned to my dad and said, "He'd going to get a home run tonight. I can just feel it." Well, my dad just laughed at my comment and said, "He hasn't even been able to get the ball out of the infield for weeks. He isn't hitting a home run. If he hits a home run I'll buy you a chocolate bunny."

Well, now it was on. I had to dedicate all my Royals magic mojo to the success of Mike Moustakas. Herman and I were headed on a date, but we couldn't leave until I was assured that Moustakas succeeded. A few innings passed, and finally I would get the chance to see if my good thoughts would lead to a home run. Things really looked promising when Billy Butler, another Royals superstar who is in a major slump, managed to get on first base. Then up came Moustakas. It was almost sad to hear how quick the announcers were to discount any chance of him actually getting Butler any closer to home. Yet again, my Royals magic had been discounted. But not today. Today was going to be Moustakas's day. I just knew it. And what did he do?

A home run straight out to right field!!!

Never doubt the power of my positive thoughts when it comes to the Royals!

So my dad owed me a chocolate bunny ... and really that was the most important detail of our bet.

That led to one happy moment for me this Easter Sunday. I expected that my dad would probably get me my chocolate, even though I wouldn't hold him to his bet, but I was super excited to walk into the house after church to find this waiting on my dining room table:

A giant chocolate bunny! And bonus ... baseball themed!

I haven't had the Easter Bunny bring me chocolate in years ... probably since I was a very little girl. It was so fun to walk in the door to see a surprise waiting for me. So I know that Easter is not about baseball or bunnies or chocolate or anything like that, but I have to say, I sure do love to smile when I come home and find out that my dad was thinking of me today. If it takes a little goofy belief in my power to bring good luck to the Kansas City Royals and the power swing of Mike Moustakas, then so be it.

And, Kansas City Royals, if you ever find yourself in a massive slump, call me. I'll lend you some of my mojo ... always.