The sandlot of yore has disappeared, and we’re uncovering why. See what it takes to keep a game going in today’s age and the impact of the $19 million investment Kansas City and the Royals are making with the Urban Youth Academy.
Call of The Sandlot takes you back to the time when kids played until their mothers called them in for dinner. KCPT and Flatland look back into our local baseball history to tell you why sandlots disappeared and how Sam and Ana Beckett, a Kansas City couple, and the Kansas City Royals are looking to bring the tradition of the sandlot back.
Discover what it was like for Frank White to play baseball while growing up in KC, and see how the Royals are hoping to instill leadership skills and discover untapped talent with the Urban Youth Academy being built in Parade Park behind the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Get ready to heed the Call of the Sandlot.
In the fourth and final episode, you’ll go inside a modern day sandlot game and learn why there’s hope for the future of baseball in Kansas City.
The entire digital series airs as a television program on KCPT on Thursday, August, 24, at 7 p.m.
Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting.
Related Stories
Show Me | Season 3 Preview
Our first season of Show Me introduced you to up-and-coming entrepreneurs in Kansas City brimming with local pride and national ambition. Our second season came back with four new stories about the movers and shakers who are shaping our great city. Now in it’s third season, Show Me is bigger than ever with nationally and internationally-known names, products, and personalities…
Brighter Lights in Bigger Cities?
In Kansas City, we’re told the economic impact of the arts totals a quarter of a billion dollars. This video series, Artconomy, evaluates what that number means: Where does that figure come from, and what’s counted in it? Sure, we’re told never to compare ourselves to others, but even cities do it. Follow us into the fourth…
A Public Performance
In Kansas City, we’re told the economic impact of the arts totals a quarter of a billion dollars. This four-part video series, Artconomy, evaluates what that number means: Where does that figure come from, and what’s counted in it? In Episode 3, get behind the numbers of public funding — how much comes from taxpayers, and…