The spirit of Steve Simpson will be at home Thursday in Kauffman Stadium.
Well, actually on the mound.
Simpson starred as a pitcher for Washburn, went on to make it to the big leagues and was inducted this summer into the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.
He died much too young, in 1989, but by then had heard his son Ryan progress at playing the trumpet.
“My dad said to me once, maybe I’ll play at a Royals game and it stuck in my head,’’ Ryan recalled. “It became kind of a bucket list thing.