Mysterious Goings On with Alex Greenwood

A Royal Chronicle: Exploring KC's Baseball History with Matt Stewart

·31 min·3 clips

Matt Stewart reveals the electrifying near-disaster when Royals players almost jumped into live fountains after a 1980 playoff win.

The episode begins with host Alex Greenwood introducing Matt Stewart, a returning guest and local news anchor who has written a new book on the Kansas City Royals. Stewart explains that the book is a visually rich, coffee-table style timeline covering the team's entire history. He delves into the pre-Royals era, describing how Kansas City first got a Major League team with the Athletics in 1954, but ownership conflicts with the New York Yankees led to poor performance. After the Athletics left, local businessman Ewing Kauffman bought the expansion Royals in 1969, naming them after the American Royal livestock show. Stewart shares anecdotes from his research, like the 1980 incident where players Freddy Patek and Cookie Rojas planned to jump into the Kauffman Stadium fountains after a playoff win, unaware the water was electrified. He discusses his research process, which involved consulting Royals historian Kurt Nelson and using sources like Baseball Reference and newspaper archives. As a lifelong fan, Stewart names Bo Jackson as his favorite player, recalling listening to games on the radio. The conversation shifts to baseball's broader popularity, with Stewart acknowledging the NFL's dominance but expressing hope that rule changes and exciting players like Bobby Witt Jr. can revive interest. Greenwood and Stewart then analyze the Royals' recent failed stadium proposal, criticizing the team's poor communication and last-minute site changes. Stewart suggests the team might now consider Clay County as an alternative. The episode concludes with Stewart promoting his website for book sales and emphasizing the importance of preserving team history.

As heard by us

A Royals fountain celebration turns Kansas City baseball history into a story of danger, memory, and civic affection.

Kansas City's baseball past comes through best here as a vivid piece of shared memory. Matt Stewart recalls Freddy Patek and Cookie Rojas racing toward the fountains after the Royals beat the Yankees in the 1980 American League Championship Series, the release of years of losses…

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Why you'd press play

You get a Royals fountain story that almost turned a pennant celebration into a two-dead-goldfish disaster.

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