The boisterous crowd at Kauffman Stadium threw off A’s outfielders during Hosmer’s 12th inning triple

Arrowhead Stadium and Sporting Park have earned reputations as rather difficult places for visiting teams to play on account of energetic crowds that show up to the games.

Kauffman Stadium, by contrast, hardly warrants renown as one of baseball’s toughest environments. It’s a place where the team between innings will fill the relative silence at times with silly promotional gimmicks more at home at a minor league park. 

But last night, the K transformed into a fortress for the Kansas City Royals, finally the type of home venue that helped propel the team to victory. Even viewing the game from television, it was clear that the crowd created the sort of energy and noise that supported three late rallies that kept the Royals postseason hopes alive with a sterling 9-8 victory over the Oakland A’s in 12 innings. 

In fact, the crowd may have played a crucial role in sparking a Royals comeback in the 12th inning after the the A’s took a one-run lead in the top half of the frame.

With one out and no one on base, Eric Hosmer smacked a soaring ball deep to the left-center alley. Once it became clear that the ball wouldn’t sail over the fence, the only question was whether A’s outfielders Jonny Gomes or Sam Fuld could track down the ball on the warning track.

The two converged toward Hosmer’s fly ball and collided into one another while the ball caromed safely off the outfield wall, leading to a Hosmer triple that would later become a tying run.

Fuld later told reporters that he tried to call off Gomes so he could make a stab at corralling Hosmer’s deep drive, but couldn’t get through to his fellow outfielder over the din of the Kauffman Stadium crowd.

“It was just too loud,” Fuld told Yahoo! Sports. “I yelled, but it was just so loud that we could be right next to each other and not hear each other.”

Looking at replays, it’s difficult to tell whether either player could have tracked down the fly ball even with the silence of batting practice. 

Either way, it’s still a hearty credit to 40,000-plus Royals fans who made Kauffman Stadium into one of the more intimidating baseball venues. Let’s hope that vibe can last for more than just one night.
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