These are the things I was thinking when I walked into the seating bowl at Rosenblatt Stadium yesterday evening:
- Where should I sit?
- Ew, I’ll bet the seats will all be wet from the rain this afternoon.
- Who’s charting tonight? I hope it’s someone funny.
- Oooh, this sunlight will be AWESOME for photos!
- I want a beer.
You all are astute, so you’ll notice that NONE of those thoughts had anything to do with “What would I say to Dayton Moore if I bumped into him right now?” That would be a stupid thing to think about; why the heck would GMDM be right here–holy crap there he is two feet from me.
So there I was, two feet from the man behind the Process. How many times have I dreamed of giving The Process a browbeating in person? God knows the things I’ve imagined myself saying to Dayton. If only I could get a moment of his time….
….and I had a moment of his time. And I didn’t do a damn thing with it. Instead, I awkwardly fumbled through an introduction — “Hi I just thought it would be cool to meet you fancy seeing you here.”
What was I thinking? That’s not even a sentence. Where was an honest but sharp-tongued critique like the things I have said here, on the radio, on Royals Review and everywhere else? Where were the pointed questions? Where was a plea for progress from this lifelong fan who has only ever known her Royals as an eternally rebuilding, frustrating and hapless enterprise?
Over and over, I’ve kicked myself for not doing something better. I’m frustrated with my stupid self for being SO taken aback by Moore’s presence that I couldn’t think of anything but small talk. Sure, seeing him sitting there by himself was a shock. Taking a moment to digest that sight would have been totally understandable. But I took that moment to digest, and I followed it up with empty chatter. What a waste.
He seemed nice enough, though. He shook my hand and asked what my name was, and seemed impressed that I was dedicated enough to the Omaha boys to be at the stadium on my night off of work. When we were done chatting, he said “Nice to meet you, Minda,” — he made a point to say my name — and I found a seat. By the time I finished texting a few people about the encounter, Moore was gone. I had blown the opportunity that all of we bloggers and other grumpy fans have been dreaming of forever.
The next best thing, then, was to let Lee Warren know that GMDM was in the building (yay Twitter!). Warren got to talk to Moore this morning, and Lee used his time with Moore infinitely better than I did. Some of Moore’s comments are here, in a story about Alex Gordon’s demotion. Moore’s comments there seem a lot more candid and less guarded than his usual quotes. Lee told me that Moore was “remarkably easy to talk to.”
I’m glad someone got to talk to Moore while he’s here. Whether I will ever get a real opportunity like that again is uncertain, and that kills me. I didn’t even get the camera out to take a picture of or with him!
I did, however, end up getting that beer, so not all is lost.
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