Royals Community News...

The Royals wrapped up a pretty busy homestand Sunday and are on their way to Texas (April 28-May 1) before heading to Cleveland later in the week. Since Monday is an off day and we have time to gather our thoughts, here are some community notes from the front office...

Dandi's Batting Practice Cancelled: Well, it did kind of rain on Dandi "Dan" Mackall's parade this past Wednesday (April 23) when she came out to Kauffman Stadium as the Royals special guest. Dandi, who was once denied the right to be a batboy for the 1961 Kansas City A's because of her gender, was an honorary batgirl for the Royals-Indians 7:10 p.m. game on Wednesday. Out on the field prior to the game, Dandi was hoping to live her dream of being a batgirl, but Mother Nature had other plans for the author of A Girl Named Dan. Rain not only cancelled BP, but it also cancelled the game. Dandi still hung out in the dugout, met some players as well as Manager Hillman and also had her story told on the Royals Radio Network pregame show with Steve Stewart. In between rain drops, she picked up a couple of stray baseballs, too!

Dream Factory Back at The K: Did you see this ESPN article on Trey over the weekend? Toward the end of the piece, reporter Elizabeth Merrill mentions an informal dugout meeting Trey had with some kids...the first Dream Factory Royals visit of the season! The 11-year-old girl mentioned is Erin Dublin and her twin brothers - age 7 - are Will and Jack. Erin's family, along with a few other people including The Dream Factory's Dan Liston, spent Wednesday afternoon hanging around the Royals batting cages and dugouts. Trey topped the list of Royals Erin and her brothers hugged, high-fived, received autographs from and posed with for pictures!

Lemons into Lemonade at The K: Third Baseman Alex Gordon got to The K a little earlier on Thursday to lend his smile and voice to the local chapter of Alex's Lemonade Stand - a nationally known fundraising effort that focuses on pediatric cancer research. It's the second season where our Alex has been the local spokesperson for the program.

On Thursday before BP, Alex joined some young cancer patients to shoot a public service announcement promoting "Lemonade Weekend" at Kansas City-area Hy-Vee stores on June 6-7. It only took a couple of takes for the group to get the lines down...and only one little guy (the one being held in the photo!) tried to make a break for it and run across the field! Fans can visit www.alexslemonade.org to learn more about Alex's Lemonade Stand and - as our Alex said during the PSA shoot - "help fight childhood cancer one cup at a time."

Players Coming to Sprint Store: During the next homestand, Billy Butler and David DeJesus will head to the new Sprint store at The Legends in KCK for a meet and greet with fans. UPDATE: The event is on Saturday, May 10 (sorry we initially left that out!). DeJesus will appear from 11 a.m. to noon before Butler shows up from noon to 1 p.m. Then the guys will head to The K to play the Baltimore Orioles.

A Cold Baseball Equipment Drive: Friday at Kauffman Stadium was pretty cold. But, despite the low, windy temperatures, Betty Kaegel, our director of community outreach, and some Royals Wives - Katie Butler, Ashley Hochevar and Yamel Ros, wife of Jose Guillen - braved the cold to collect baseball equipment for Guadalupe Centers, Inc. We are still accepting donations this week, so official numbers aren't in, but one anonymous fan did drop off several large tubs of equipment prior to the gates opening Friday. Thanks to all who donated items! 

Mother's Day at The K:...is also Breast Cancer Awareness Day at The K! Over the weekend, we announced our plans for celebrating moms on May 11 as well as our plans for honoring breast cancer survivors and supporters of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The special day involves Pink Royals T-shirts to the first 10,000 fans, a breast cancer survivor sitting in the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat as well as another survivor leading the crowd in the singing of "God Bless America." There will be a special "moms" twist to the Dodge Honorary Lineup and, probably the most fun, we'll have a special "Pinked-Out Zone" for the game. The "Pinked-Out Zone" will be full of breast cancer survivors and Susan G. Komen supporters. Susan G. Komen supporters can purchase specially priced tickets for this section by visiting royals.com/komen - where a portion of the tickets sold will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  

Speaking of benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Royals Charities is donating a $5,000 donation to the Susan G. Komen Greater Kansas City Affiliate. The RC donation will be made in memory of Donna Stewart, the late wife of Royals long-time scout and 2008 Royals Hall of Fame inductee Art Stewart.

And, finally, when you are out at the ballpark from May 8-11, you'll have the chance to purchase Garth Brook's "Pink Edition" of The Ultimate Hits album for $16 with a portion of every CD sold benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. If you can't make it out to Kauffman Stadium during that time, you can still help out the cause and purchase a CD by visiting http://ww3.komen.org/garth/.

Okay - a lot to process, remember and mark on the calendar. Enjoy watching or listening to the Royals this week and we hope to see you out at The K when the team is back on May 5!