After the baseball had fallen from the sky, after Alex Gordon had flung himself onto the warning track and laid face first in the dirt, and after Kauffman Stadium witnessed its latest moment of defensive brilliance, Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera moved toward home plate and decided to stop.
It was the top of the fourth on Thursday night, the middle part of the Royals’ 4-0 victory over the the Tigers, and the stadium was still roaring. The crowd of 30,763 had come to its feet and stayed there, cheering as starting pitcher Edinson Volquez raised his cap into the air and first-base coach Rusty Kuntz cracked a wide smile on the far side of the dugout.