KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New York Mets fans are traveling to Kansas City to support their team, and they’re enjoying things besides baseball in the hours leading up to the games.
“Die hard Mets fan, born and raised,” says Zach Harrison, originally from Manhattan.
“All my life I’ve been wanting to go to a Mets World Series,” adds Fernando Santillanes, another Mets fan.
Mets fans in Kansas City are preparing for Game 1 of the World Series, but not before they check out the “hot spots”.
“We just landed about an hour ago, and the first thing we did is drive to Oklahoma Joe’s,” Harrison says, about the famous BBQ restaurant now called Joe’s Kansas City.
Harrison says he came here for two things:
“BBQ and baseball,” he says.
He and his wife are in town for two games, and says Kansas City has that mid-western hospitality.
“You`re treated differently at the games here, if Royals fans came to New York, it might not be quite as polite, if you take the subway or the seven train to Citi field, you may want to cover up your jersey,” adds Harrison.
Other visitors are torn between the two teams.
“The Royals have been my favorite team, I got drafted by them in 1999, and got a chance to play professional baseball because of them, but I’m good friends with Curtis Granderson, who’s from the Chicago area, so I’ve been rooting for him throughout the playoffs as well,” says Keronn Walker, who was selected by the Royals in the 1999 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
Walker took his son to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum before Game 1.
“So he could understand what this game was founded on and just learn some more history, not just baseball, but our country,” Walker adds.
Walker says he’s supporting both teams.
“I’m just looking forward to watching some good baseball,” says Walker.
Fans of both teams are just hoping for a great Series.
“Been a lot of bad years, kind of mirrors the Royals in a way, we’ve kind of struggled for a very long time, been the bud of some jokes, but here we are, one of us is going to break the streak,” Harrison says.
