On September 17th, 1979, The Royals’ George Brett collected his 20th triple of the season in a 16 – 4 romp over the Angels. With that hit Brett became the 6th player ever, and the first since Willie Mays in 1957, to collect 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs in the same season. He would finish with totals of 42, 20 and 23.

When I was seminary in Chicago, one of my best friends was a woman who had worked during college for the Kansas City Royals. She was, of course, a huge Royals fan and a huge George Brett fan. I ended up going to a lot of Royals-White Sox games with her and other friends at Old Comiskey Park in the early 1980s.

Last summer I took a baseball roadtrip with my friend Bob (my college roommate and best man). One of the ballparks we visited was Kaufman Field in Kansas City, Missouri, George Brett’s home ballpark. I finally got to see the field Brett had called home 30 years after he had retired.

There have been a number of articles I have read now over the past year about how the owners of the Royals as well as the owners of the Kansas City Chiefs want new ballparks. (The Chiefs’ football stadium, Arrowhead, is right next door to Kaufman). No doubt both teams will end up with a new stadium paid for by the taxpayers of either Kansas or Missouri.

My local team, the Minnesota Twins, play in Target Field. A beautiful ballpark built with the help of my tax dollars. Do I as a part-owner of that ballpark, through my tax dollars as a resident of Hennepin County and the State of Minnesota, receive any special benefits from Target Field? Of course not.

Somewhere along the line, the billionaire-class convinced a majority of Americans that billionaires are “Makers” while the rest of the world are just “Takers.” I humbly submit to you that in fact it is actually the other way around.

Back to George Brett and the Royals. Kaufman Ballpark is an absolutely beautiful ballpark. One of the most beautiful I have ever visited. Here are a few photos from there.