FanPost

How I Became a Royals Fan


I grew up in Illinois, about forty miles from St. Louis. When I was a youngster in the mid-seventies, you were expected to be a Cardinal fan. But I never really connected with the Redbirds. They were mediocre, and boring. So I never really had much of a connection with major league baseball.

In the summer, my family would spend a couple of weeks visiting my Dad's sisters, who lived in the south Chicago suburbs. They were die-hard White Sox fans, so much so that they wouldn't allow Cub games on TV. So when they watched baseball, it was the Sox. And coincidentally, for a few summers (1974-76), every time we visited my aunts the White Sox and Royals would be playing. The White Sox were no great shakes, but the Royals? Now that was a team that was fun to watch. Seeing them play in the 1976 playoffs had me hooked.

And so for forty-odd years I've had to listen to Cardinal fans berate me for not rooting for the local team, and Cub fans wonder why I don't root for the home-state team.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.