Baseball as a sport is one of my absolute faves. It’s also how I can prove to people that feminists don’t automatically = misandrists! Though, how any of my favorite players would handle an interaction with me, is anyone’s guess.

You know what, strike that, every time I cheer at the stadium for my current favorite player he waves at me. Once, I bet it was more at my sister, but I was right next to her! I think he’d be charmed.

I was born a Kansas City Royals fan. It’s interesting being born into a fandom. Yes, I suppose, I could have chosen to leave, but the socialization is strong. I have already bucked so many of the family’s expectations for me, why push it on this one?

I have excellent memories of going to “the K” (Kaufmann Stadium for those not in the know) as a kid on an epic family vacation that also included Worlds of Fun AND Oceans of Fun (IYKYK). If memory serves, I think my mom might have been pregnant with Hermana - it definitely was a marker of a family formation changing and shifting into a new iteration.

And while there is always fun to be had at a ballpark - the sights, the smells, the ancient throwback to the thrill of a colosseum, to be a Royals fan is to often be disappointed.

Ours is a fandom that requires a lot of patience between winning World Series teams. It turns out that we may have to wait close to three decades from now, since the KC Royals have exactly two World Series victories in their (relatively) short history as a team, exactly 40 years apart! 1985 and 2015. Wild to think at this rate we’ll be back to a victory in 2055! Wow, that was a weird date to write out.

Not all hope is lost, our team has made the playoffs more recently than 40 years since, so there’s that. And I would hate to cast a spell on my team by assuming 2055 will be our year, and nothing sooner.

But, there is no hope for playoffs this year. This year has been tough for Royals fans. Seriously. We’ve already amassed some really fun and niche stats to show for it!

(For the non baseball fans out there statistical tracking is one of the sports’ favorite way to keep tabs on itself - especially in the post-Moneyball era.) If that’s too niche, buy me a coffee sometime and I’ll Kandacesplain professional baseball to you and regale you with “small ball” philosophy.

Here’s an example of something you might hear a broadcaster say, “since the All Star Break he’s been in the top five of all MLB hitters for RBIs with runners in scoring position after the third inning.” I jest (only a little) but the stats can be so niche! I swear, the commentators and the people pulling data just love a challenge of how to make someone look better than they are.

WHILE THE TEAM IS LOSING GAMES.

Is this magical thinking?

Is this how we should all be approaching our professional hits and misses?

Some true/actual stats from recent games I’ve learned -

• The Royals are 10/28 against left handed started pitchers this season.

• The last time a Royals pitcher had 8 or more base runners and no one scored in the first four innings was 1996!

See what I mean about it being so niche? The attention to detail, the pulling of the data, the making the data seem to fit the narrative the broadcasters want to explore - it’s all rather awe-inspiring.

So, here’s my list of things you can do if your baseball team is on a season long skid -

• Celebrate milestones of individual players - like Salvi who broke the franchise record for homeruns this year! Or the very loveable Tyler Tolbert who went 12 for 12 in July.

• Add a baseball journal to the ecosystem where you start documenting funny turns of phrase that the announcers say and create your own methods of tracking data points you are interested in that the broadcasters aren’t discussing.

• (stealing this one from my Hermana who is a Royals super fan) play videogames instead of watching the game and have your spouse narrate what’s going on (for your mental health) .

• See if you can chew more gum than the entire team during one full game.

• Burn your tongue by trying to eat more sunflower seeds than the players do during an outing.

• Research how to become an MLB ump. Someone please connect me with my shero Jen Pawol - who was THE FIRST woman to umpire a MLB game (IN 2025).

• Get excited about the potential for next year’s team once everyone is back healthy and the pitching rotation and bullpen are strengthened.

• Remind yourself often that this is actually just a game.

That last one! How privileged we are to have the opportunity to seek recreation. How glorious to have a “pastime.” Does anyone else think that word is so weird? Pastime? Pastime. Past time. Pass time. Baseball is probably the most accurate realization of that word - what have you been up to? Oh, just passing time watching others stand around and also occasionally display amazing feats of athleticism.

Anyways, here’s a fun Art of KCF stat for you as I sign off to get back into studio life - the last time Art of KCF mentioned baseball was on September 28 of 2025. Art of KCF has seen more MLB games live (6) and at more stadiums (3) in this 2026 season than in any of the proceeding 44 years!

I’m off to enjoy a bit more painting before I stream tonight’s game. Yeah, my baseball team has been on a bit of a season-long skid, but I am still rooting for them. It’s always good to see how people handle losing. Goodness knows a baseball loss is maybe one of the best losses to survive.

May your baseball team teach you something about who you are - I know mine does, even when they’re on a skid.

PS: I did not know when I started this email last week that my team would actually be on a four game winning streak. Superstition might suggest I hold off on sending this email…But alas, I am not that superstitious.)