By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
There may be no standard definition of a sports "superfan," but everyone knows one when they see one. Cleveland's John Adams comes to mind. The Guardians fan attended every home baseball game from 1973 until his death, at the age of 71, in 2023. He literally beat the drum from the stands for 48 seasons, or more than 3,500 games.
Kansas City has its own Superfan. Chris Coats, a United States Postal Service employee from Raytown, Mo., has been attending Royals games for most of his life, including 31 of the team's 33 playoff games since 2014. Coats attended the two American League Wild Card games in Baltimore earlier this week and is sticking around on the east coast for the Divisional Series that begins Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The goal is to make it back to Kauffman Stadium for Wednesday's game three in the series.
"It's going to be about 18 hours after Monday night to try to get back by Wednesday," Coats said in a Friday appearance on 1590 KVGB/95.5 FM's "Sports Day" show. "I think we can manage. We did 16 to Baltimore and we did okay. I've got a home-game streak going of over 1,600 games. I've got to make it."
With 81 home games a season, Coats' streak dates back more than 20 seasons. Things picked up around 2009 when Coats began following the Royals to other stadiums. Wearing a promotional Royals flag as a cape, he made the Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast at a game in Houston. The nickname "Superfan Chris" was christened.
"I was walking back and I found Ryan Lefebvre," Coats said. "We just got to talking. I had driven to Houston and I told him I was driving to Pittsburgh. He said, 'Oh wow, we'll have to get you on TV there, too. That's a heck of a drive.'"
Coats became a regular on Royals broadcasts as the team continued to struggle with losing seasons from 2004 to 2012. The Royals finished the 2013 season at 86-76, then made it to Game Seven of the 2014 World Series. Coats was one of several fans that postseason featured on the side of buses in downtown Kansas City.
Coats has now been to all 30 Major League Baseball cities but has yet to visit the new Truist Park in Atlanta or LoanDepot Park in Miami. Also a Kansas City Chiefs and Missouri Tigers fan, he frequently attends football games in the fall.
"I get five weeks off every year but I've been saving a lot of that every year for something like this," Coats said of the MLB playoffs. "I asked for the whole month of October off and they gave it to me. I told them I'd come back as long as the Royals aren't playing. I don't expect to use all the time, but I guess I will if they make it to the World Series."
During his streak, Coats has married and had two boys. The youngest son, at just five years old, has attended between 50 and 60 Royals games this year and made the 16-hour trip to Baltimore with his father.
"I wanted to include him on the ride," Coats said. "I worked Monday, then I packed up the car and we drove. We had about 24 hours to get there. We made it work and what an incredible series to watch."
Coats has watched games from the old Yankee Stadium and the new park that is already 15 years old. As discussion in Kansas City turns to a new downtown stadium, Coats said there are plenty of good examples to choose from.
"A lot of the National League ballparks are pretty good," he said. "Pittsburgh and San Diego, there's just something about the background. Even St. Louis, with the Arch in the background, the downtown atmosphere is pretty cool. I know the Royals are pushing for it and the fans don't like it but it's something else."
Kansas City will play games one and two of the American League Divisional Series at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and Monday evenings. Game three moves to Kansas City with a time to be determined.