Royals Celebrate 15 Years with Dream Factory

It’s three hours before first pitch and it’s raining. The white tarp drapes the field and the dugout is empty. Really empty. Doesn’t really sound like a fun way to spend an evening at the ballpark, does it? Well, 12-year-old Josh begs to differ and he has Royals Captain Mike Sweeney backing him up.

As the first KMBC-TV Dream Factory child to visit Kauffman Stadium this season, Josh – pictured here with his sister Kate, Sweeney and KMBC-TV’s Larry Moore – was hoping that a little rain on Wednesday wouldn’t dampen his Royals experience. Luckily, running into Sweeney as the Royals veteran was heading to the indoor batting cages worked out perfectly. Sweeney chatted with Josh and then introduced the young Royals fan to a few teammates…John Buck, Gil Meche and “Big Donkey” (aka Billy Butler), who Sweeney introduced as “our starting left fielder.”

“(Sweeney) just keeps bringing guys out,” a smiling Josh said from just inside the Royals dugout. “I can’t keep them all straight. This is awesome.”

This season marks the 15th anniversary of the Royals partnership with the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Dream Factory. For each Wednesday home game throughout the season, the Royals grant the wish of a Dream Factory child, a youngster who faces a serious challenge. The child, along with his or her family, comes out to Kauffman Stadium and meets his or her favorite Royals players before receiving tickets and refreshments for that day’s home game. The child’s Royals experience then appears on the KMBC-TV (Channel 9) 10 p.m. newscast in the “Dream Factory” segment.

This season, look for more stories like Josh’s at royals.com as we celebrate 15 years of working with Dream Factory.