KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals won’t play baseball Friday evening. Their game against the Boston Red Sox is postponed, as the manhunt for the bombing suspect continues.
That decision was made around 2 p.m. today. There’s no word yet as to when today’s game will be made up.
The Royals have been in Boston since Wednesday, using Thursday as a day off with no game scheduled. Since then, their traveling staff of roughly 40 people have been on the edge of their seats.
“It’s strange to hear sirens outside the hotel, and then, seconds later, you hear the same sirens on television,” Royals Play-by-Play Announcer Ryan Lefebvre said.
The Royals broadcaster sent cell phone photos to Fox 4 News. They show empty streets and a crush of media attention. This morning, he says he visited a grocery store near the team hotel, before being told to stay indoors.
“Any business that’s open right now, the authorities are making sure the man they’re looking for doesn’t go into the business and create a hostage situation,” Lefebvre said.
The Royals are staying at the Westin Copley Place, which is two blocks from the finish line for Monday’s Boston Marathon. It’s a 15-minute drive from Watertown, Mass, where Boston Police are searching for a second man accused in the case of Monday’s attack. That hotel is also the command center for the police and their operation.
“You hope for the people of Boston, they find the second guy and finish him off,” Royals Outfielder Jeff Franceour said.
He and his teammates have been there since the Royals left Atlanta on Wednesday.
“Baseball takes a back seat,” Franceour said. “At some point, i was hoping they’d cancel the game.”
Lefebvre’s broadcast colleague Steve Stewart might agree with Franceour. He and the Royals are looking forward to starting a three-game series against the American League East’s top team, but now, that will have to wait.
“It’d be a shame not to play, but obviously safety and the public comes first,” Stewart said.
The Royals can’t play in Boston today, meaning a possible doubleheader could come up on Saturday or Sunday at best.
That gives our Twitter friend ‘the fake ned’ an idea: why not move the games to Kauffman Stadium? Fly both teams down here.
Here’s a link to ‘the fake ned’s’ opinions.
