It took a while, but the Kansas City Royals have finally entered the 21st century. Our young lineup of future stars is poised to help local fans forget the last bunch of future stars we squandered (Damon, Beltran, Dye, etc.). A new GM and his hand-picked, made-in-Japan manager have everyone feels optimistic.
But the real news for me, of course, is that FSN is airing the games in high-definition -- a perfect complement to our new, camera-phones-can't-do-it-justice monster high-def screen, for now the largest in the nation.
This picture, of course, was taken before the heavens opened and a soaking, 50-degree rain turned this game into a rainy Chautauqua event, where we sat under our makeshift tents and observed the muddy goings-on in the park.
Still, we whupped the Yankees, so you can't really beat that.
But back to the high-definition coverage. FSN Kansas City is taking charge of Royals baseball this year after the failed experiment that was RSTN. Already I like what I see, and hear. Ryan Lefebvre will be in the TV booth exclusively this season, which is where he belonged. Listening to him on radio was a validation of Marshall McLuhan's rule of thumb: Radio hot, TV cool. Lefebvre is not hot.
A word should be said about this guy, Joel Goldberg, new host of "Royals Live." An FSN footsoldier since 2005, Goldberg is a huge improvement as pregame/postgame host over the Metro Sports anchors who did the shows for RSTN. He can even get Royals great Frank "Silent Cal" White to be chatty and genial for an hour. Good thing, too -- Frank's going to be on every "Royals Live" broadcast this season.
The only complaint I have so far about FSN in HD (other than the fact that TiVo and Time Warner still can't get me the non-St. Louis listings) is that the games only air live. When FSN reairs the games, FSN-HD doesn't. In fact, it doesn't air anything but color bars. Very odd. I wonder if FSN-HD plays an old film of the National Anthem before signing off every night. Or a meditation from Fulton Sheen. I guess not everything is 21st-century yet in Royalsville. But the season is still young.
