I love baseball. Oh, I'm a pretty big sports fan overall - I like football, basketball, golf... even tennis. But baseball is my true love. It started at a young age, as I collected baseball cards and watched the Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons. Whether it's on TV or in person, watching a baseball game is the perfect summer pastime for me.

Kansas City is blessed to have a great ballpark to enjoy. Kauffman Stadium may be an older park, but it is just as enjoyable (or more) than many of the fancy, new stadiums. It would be nice if the team on the field was just a little better.

It's not easy to be a Royals fan these days. I hear the frustration from friends of mine who still support their team, even in these trying times. The Royals are my son's favorite team, although he's too young to get upset about the team's poor record. I'm afraid he's going to give up on them when he gets older. It's not easy to support a losing team. A life-long Royals fan even sold his allegiance to the Royals on Ebay earlier this year. He said he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Wait until next year" is an age-old saying in baseball and Royals fans have become very used to saying it. However, there is a team this year that can truly give the boys in blue and their fans something to hope for. If you're a baseball fan, you know what the Detroit Tigers are doing this year. They have the best record in baseball. They've got a great mix of young stars and savvy veterans. And the best thing about it for Royals fans: just a few short years ago, they were terrible. In fact, they were worse than the Royals. They took losing to historic levels. And just look at them now.

Ah, hope springs eternal. There's a new GM in town and now an organization that the Royals can point to (and emulate), to show that things really can turn around, maybe pretty quickly.

Kansas City is a football town right now. That's great. But I think it can be a baseball town once again, as well. At least I hope so.