The Royals hadn’t played in Kauffman Stadium in 12 days.
In fact, they hadn’t played at all in four days when they arrived in Kansas City to face the Twins on Friday.
The All-Star break screeched to a halt the tottering train the Royals maneuvered through: a 5-21 end to baseball’s unofficial first half. The break gave the Royals a chance to go home, reset and try to ignore the 116-loss pace their team was careening toward.
Which is exactly what Royals manager Ned Yost did. He climbed onto his tractor and took three days to mow the hundreds of acres of land he owns in Meriwether County, Ga.