Celebrating Lucky Sevens at The K

Lately, it’s lucky sevens for Caleb Todd.

The young Blue Springs, Mo., resident got an early birthday present when he came out to Kauffman Stadium Wednesday, July 4, to see the Royals face Seattle. The reason behind the trip – besides, of course, catching his favorite team in action – rested all on a persistent Grandpa and the extra-special birthday Caleb is celebrating this Saturday.

That’s when Caleb turns 7…on July 7, 2007…the seventh day of the seventh month…7-7-07. No matter which way you say it, it’s pretty cool – especially if it means an invitation to chill in the Royals home dugout.

Thanks to a one-man PR effort and some good word of mouth by Caleb’s Grandpa Billy Barnes, Caleb, his Grandpa, his Grandma, Janet Barnes, and his parents, Justin and Nicky Todd, came out to The K a little early on the Fourth of July as one of many small celebrations of Caleb’s big day. On Saturday, Caleb will join other 7-year-olds in the state to receive a special proclamation from Governor Matt Blunt and he will be mentioned in a special national story on “Lucky 7’s” across the country.

Unfortunately, his visit to Kauffman on July 4, wasn’t as lucky for the fans (or the team) as the local Lucky-Seven kid would hope. Batting practice on the field was cancelled due to rain, the Royals missed on completing the sweep with a 4-0 loss and the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular was cancelled. But, that didn’t stop Caleb, who was sporting an orange 7-7-7-7 shirt, from showing off a toothy-grin and proudly proclaiming to every baseball player and coach he met: “I’ll be 7 on 7-7-7!”