Savor the moment Royals fans

I once covered a Kansas City Royals game in October ... but that was a rescheduled series because of the 9-11 attacks.

Only once in the six-plus years I covered Kansas City-area sports did a Royals' season have value after the All-Star Break. That was in 2003, and that's when I saw the passion of Royals fans firsthand.

Kansas City opened the that year 3-0 and faced the Detroit Tigers on a Friday in early April. The Royals had a small season-ticket base of about 15,000, but that night the convergence of I-435 and I-70 outside Kauffman Stadium was jammed to a crawl. Around 25,000 people bought single-game tickets that night, which ended with a walk-off home run in a light drizzle. That's poetry right there.

Last night's scene in Kansas City for the American League Wild Card showdown was incredible. On display was a passionate fan base that stood behind a moribund franchise for years and continued to believe the Royals could return to its winning ways. The fans had faith back in the early 2000s when the Royals' outfield consisted of Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran. They believed in 2003 when the team started 9-0, then 16-3 and led the American League Central Division by seven games at the break.

They also believed in 2004. On opening day, the Royals trailed the Chicago White Sox 7-3 entering the bottom of the ninth. Kansas City tied the game with a three-run homer from Mendy Lopez (seriously), and then Beltran belted a two-run shot two batters later for the win. It was implausible.

As I waited outside the locker room door, I felt a semi-hand shove in my shoulder. I whipped my head around and there stood Garth Brooks, who attended 2004 spring training with the Royals. He was trying to get in the locker room and was able to sneak in for the celebration. Now there's a brush with greatness.

But mostly the Royals' recent history has been filled with wishful thinking ... until now. The Royals trailed Oakland 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth, scored three runs that inning, tied it up in the ninth and won it in the 12th. Like many people, I found it so riveting I couldn't miss a pitch and barely could sleep an hour later.

One reporter who has covered every Royals playoff game said it was the most energetic crowd he's ever seen. It was an electric atmosphere magnified by 29 years of playoff drought - the longest among America's major sports franchises - and nobody deserved the outcome more than Royals fans.

Ultimately, it was just a winner-take-all American League wild-card game that sent the Royals to a five-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. But the win represents a national rebirth of a franchise that produced Titanic moments more than a generation ago. In that vein, this morning's win probably ranks as the third-greatest moment in team history behind only the 1985 World Series title and George Brett's triple-deck home run at Yankee Stadium in the 1980 American League Championship Series.

Take a bow Royals fans and soak up the moment. That victory, 29 years in the making, was worth the wait.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com