Royals players receive MLB lifetime pass

Getting to the big leagues is a dream for thousands of young players around the world, and being able to stick around and make a career is something only a small fraction of people ever get to do. It turns out that once you’ve made it, Major League Baseball ensures that you’ll always be able to come back.

The Commissioner’s office hands out “Lifetime Passes” to MLB players with at least eight years of full service and executives with at least 25 years of service. The first person to ever receive this pass was President Theodore Roosevelt (who never used it), but hundreds of passes have been given to players, coaches, umpires, and staff over the years.

The pass gives the players access to any MLB game in any stadium they want (post-season excepted), although seating is determined by the individual club. The pass is non-transferrable, and no call-ahead is necessary. The player just shows up, flashes the gold, and gets in. Membership has its privileges.

Well now some Royals players will get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Former All-Star shortstop showed off his golden pass on Instagram.

Also receiving one was reliever Peter Moylan, who despite making his MLB debut in 2006, just hit eight years of service time this year.

Congrats to Esky and Peter. No doubt they don’t need help getting into any MLB stadiums, but it is a nice honor for the careers they have carved out.