KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
Those who opened up the Kansas City Star on Thursday may have noticed a half-page ad calling for Royals owner David Glass to sell the team.
A couple of Royals fans knew that local sports media calling for ownership change is not enough so they took matters into their own hands. Many may have seen their work in Thursday's sports page.
It's been 27 years since the Royals won the World Series and Kansas City went baseball crazy. Joe Accurso and Nick Palmer were 10 years old at the time. The Royals haven't sniffed the postseason since and that needs to change, according to the two college pals that went to Rockhurst University.
"CBS Sports is on here, you know, ‘Fan takes out ad asking David Glass to sell,'" Palmer said.
In two weeks they raised $5,100 and took out a half-page add in Thursday's Kansas City Star. The point of the ad: owner David Glass needs to sell the team if the Royals are ever going to be great again.
"I said, ‘What if we just did this and tried it' and ‘how could we pay for it?' and we just started brainstorming and that was it," Accurso said.
"Some people love it and others thought it was a stupid idea," Palmer said.
Both Palmer and Accurso aren't radicals. They're well-educated professionals, Royals fans that want their kids, like Palmer's daughter Janice, to experience a winning team just as they did.
All they said they really wanted to do was start a conversation.
"You've had your time, you've made some money. Make a bundle more money and give another ownership group a chance," Palmer said of his message to Glass.
"I'm not naïve enough to think that David Glass is going to read it and sell the team tomorrow, but conversation has to start somewhere," Accurso said.
And the conversation started Thursday with 150 Royals fans and one letter.
Senior Vice President Kevin Uhlich released the following statement:
"We are making significant, smart investments in long-term talent as part of our long-term winning strategy. Our first-class farm system is part of our deliberate and focused effort to develop talent and we're seeing results."
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