KC Royals Caravan Free To Public January 18
January 6, 2010 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
OMAHA, NE - The Kansas City Royals Caravan stops in Omaha on Monday, January 18th, when a group of players headlined by former Nebraska star Alex Gordon will appear at a free, family event. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Omaha Convention Center at 72nd & Grover Streets from 10 a.m.-noon. Gordon, who will be part of the Omaha leg of the caravan for a fifth consecutive year, will be joined by teammate Willie Bloomquist, former Royals great Willie Wilson and broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre. The caravan is presented by Fox Sports Kansas City.
The players will be signing autographs and visiting with fans during the event. In addition to free admission, free inflatable games will be set up inside the Palace Ballroom, so families are encouraged to bring their children who will be out of school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Free popcorn, soda and water will also be provided.
The Kansas City Royals mascot Sluggerrr, as well as the Omaha Royals mascots Casey, Spike and Herman the Nut will also be on hand entertaining fans. CoCo Key Water Resort will provide buy-one-get-one-free coupons for admission to their resort for everyone attending the event. The 2010 Royals Caravan participants are:
Alex Gordon - His 2009 season was marred by a right hip injury suffered in April, which resulted in him playing for the Omaha Royals in one rehab assignment game on July 3rd and in him being optioned to the Triple-A club on August 18th. Gordon wound up playing in 49 games with KC, hitting.232 with six home runs and 22 RBI. In 18 games with Omaha, the Lincoln native batted.313 with two homers and ten RBI. Gordon was the Royals' first round pick (second overall) in the 2005 draft out of the University of Nebraska. As a junior in 2005, he swept the collegiate baseball awards and led the Huskers to their third College World Series appearance.
Willie Bloomquist: In his first season with Kansas City in 2009, he proved to be a valuable utility player, seeing time at every position with the exception of catcher or pitcher. He saw action in 125 games, hitting.265, scoring 52 runs and stealing 25 bases in 31 attempts. Bloomquist signed with KC as a free agent last January after spending most of the previous seven seasons with the Seattle Mariners. He was the Mariners' third round selection in the 1999 draft out of Arizona State University. In a 1998 College World Series game vs. Long Beach State, he collected five hits to tie a CWS record.
Willie Wilson: He was selected to the Royals Hall of Fame in 2000, six years after finishing a 19-year Major League career (1976-94), the first 15 of which were with Kansas City. In 1980, he became only the second player in baseball history to stroke 100 hits from each side of the plate in a season. The AL batting champion in 1982 (.332), he collected 2,207 hits and 668 stolen bases in his career, including a league-leading and Royals record 83 steals in 1979. He was a Gold Glove Award winner in 1980, was the Royals Player of the Year in 1981 and was on the AL All-Star teams in 1982 and 1983. Wilson was a post-season American Association All-Star in his only season with Omaha in 1977. That year he led Omaha with 74 stolen bases, still the 2nd-best single season total in club history.
Ryan Lefebvre: 2009 marked his eleventh season as a Royals broadcaster and his 15th in the Majors. It was his second full-time season in the television booth, as he teamed with Paul Splittorff on Fox Sports Kansas City. Before joining the Royals in 1999, he spent four seasons as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins.
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Pacific Coast League Stories from January 6, 2010
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