Chapter Nine May 6, 2001 Sunday Kansas City Dave is Working On It We woke up early, and headed out for Einstein Bros Bagels and coffee. The Royals game wasn't scheduled to start until 1 o'clock so we had the morning to ourselves. Our plan to see a Sunday afternoon ballgame would come true, and the spotty weather cleared up just in time for the game. With a couple hours on our hands, we headed out to the "Agricultural Hall-of-Fame". Lyn had started a "Hall of Fame" collection and this one seemed perfect. Of course, the actual building was closed on Sunday morning, but that was OK. We then headed down to historic 18th street to see the adjacent museums for  Negro League Baseball and Kansas City Jazz Music. We mostly visited the gift shop, and picked up some CD's and post cards, then circled downtown again and headed out to Kauffman Field to see the Kansas City Royals. We had always wanted to see a Royals game. We were both kids in 1969 when expansion first formed the team and remember fondly Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, and of course, George Brett. It was a delight to see the giant Royal crown scoreboard (even if the stadium was now "Kauffman Field") and the grass in centerfield was the same was when we watched Tiger games growing up in Detroit. And the clouds started to break and sun started to shine just as the first pitch was thrown.   The stadium was always famous for the pattern mowed into its lush lawn and the outfield fountains that changed intensity throughout the game. It is bright blue and adjacent to the bright red football stadium for the Chiefs. During construction, a movable U-shaped roof (that would roll on giant tracks between the two stadiums) was envisioned but was scuttled due to cost overruns. Dave continued his collection of team mascot pictures with a visit down to see Slugger, the Royals muscle-bound Lion. During the game, Slugger ran the Brat-zooka, a shoulder mounted hotdog launcher, to distribute free snacks to the crowd.   Kauffman Stadium  had a BBQ outlet, and we could not let Jesse have a chili dog without enjoying our newest hobby, taking his picture while he is eating, and publishing it on the internet.     The stadium was magnificent, by any standard, but sadly dated by American greedy hand-in-the-pocket sport team owners. I am sure, somebody has threatened to close down or move the team if this beautiful and well appointed stadium is not torn down to provide more sky boxes. It is hard to listen to such nonsense after seeing the historic sites, full of character and tradition, that European soccer teams call home. There was an odd ending to the day, with a KC policeman seeming to be in charge of clearing out the rightfield general admission section. After the game finished, we stayed (20 min?) to take pictures of each other. This jerk, honestly said, "Are you guys finished here? We need to close this section." Yeah, right, and bite me too pal. Let everybody know that after spending nearly one hundred dollars and enjoying four hours of baseball, he will be part of our permanent memory of our game in KC. After the ballgame, we drove again around downtown to orient ourselves and plan tomorrows visits to the Hallmark center and the Truman library. Dave wanted to drive by the airport (he always does that) and to take us out to Fort Leavenworth, a short drive away into Kansas. Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary is directly adjacent to the military base and stockade, making it an interesting city. The prison is a spectacular example of what architects might refer to as the "Fortress School" of design. Dave was anxious to find the prison cemetery, as he was now visiting gravesites of famous gangsters (having seen all the US presidents) and we had learned that Bugs Moran had died while in Leavenworth and, with no relatives claiming the body, was buried in near anonymity in the prison cemetery Sure enough, about a half mile to the west was a small hillside dotted with rows of small rectangles. We proceeded to the area, but first passed by an official notification that we were entering US Federal Prison land and were agreeing to be searched (uh, O.K.). Anyway, while Jesse stayed in the car whimpering ("are you guys through yet, I don't think we're supposed to be here"), Dave and Lyn walked the grounds looking for Moran's headstone. Sadly, nearly half of the markers were damaged and most graves were, essentially, unmarked. We still walked each row (just in case) but gave up except the the couple of pictures shown here. After we got home, Dave volunteered to file a "freedom of information act" request to get Moran's actual row and grave coordinates, but stopped short after talking to a couple of people in the Washington headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Time will tell if he actually follows up. After our sojourn at Leavenworth ("Just Visiting"), we drove back into town arriving after dusk, and enjoyed some famous KC style Bar-B-Q for dinner. Then it was back to the Courtyard and off to bed. Original Web Upload May 2001 Last Update: August 29, 2001