Kauffman Stadium Was So Far Ahead Of Its Time
Tuesday night, the 2014 World Series kicks off at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The host ballpark for Games 1 and 2 (possibly 6 and 7) stands out as one of the most unique and ahead of its time facilities in all of baseball.
Nowadays, it is standard for MLB and NFL teams to possess their own sport-specific venues, as opposed to the former common practice of multipurpose stadiums. In fact, from 1962 to 1993, the sole baseball only facility constructed was the then Royals Stadium, with the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium sharing the very same complex. Located 8 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City, the Harry S Truman Sports Complex opened its doors for the 1972 football season, when the Chiefs began play at Arrowhead. The Royals took the field at their new park the following spring of 1973.
In addition to providing the Royals a beautiful home field, that has absolutely stood the test of time, the great benefit of the Truman complex is that unlike all the municipalities that had to suddenly figure out a way to construct two brand new stadiums, once the love of the multipurpose stadium faded, Kansas City only had to pony up a total of $250 million, to collectively renovate the two Truman Complex stadiums (renovation occurred from 2007 through 2009). A figure considerably less than the cost of building two separate MLB and NFL playgrounds.
The only drawback to the now Kauffman Stadium (name changed for the '94 season) is its non center city location. While the big suburban parking lot is ideal for the tailgating culture of NFL football and the league's 10 annual home games, the baseball park can be slightly hard to get to, over the course of an 81-game home baseball season.
Despite this fairly minor circumstance, few parks rival the class and staying power of Kauffman Stadium, a true gem on the American stadium landscape.
