Come To Play

With football season officially wrapped up on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t the only team on the clock; that’s because BASEBALL IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! Pitchers and catchers report in a couple of weeks, and on cue, baseball teams are now free to build the hype without being buried in the sports sections.

Just when I was starting to feel the depression of no football, the Royals released their 2013 slogan and I was once again in a cheery mood. That’s because I’m a big fan of the new Royals slogan (or it might be because baseball will restore meaning to my life), and what it means: Come To Play.

When I first saw the slogan, I had to take the time to analyze without immediately reacting. Obviously, it doesn’t have the instant impact that Our Time did, where you can tell what the meaning behind the slogan is immediately. Instead, the slogan has the same meaning without the risk of blowing up in their face by May. Plus, in its own way, it’s even more BA (no, not batting average).

As Bob Dutton from the Kansas City star wrote:

“The idea behind it is a dual thing,” said Toby Cook, the Royals’ vice president for community affairs and publicity. “We want to communicate that every one of our guys, every game, will come to play – ready to give it their all.

“The secondary idea behind it is that it’s an invitation for fans that when they come to the ballpark, they need to be prepared to play – to get involved in it. We’re all in this together.”

I even think it adds another dimension, one that the new ad agency the Royals hired this offseason, Walz Tetrick, probably already thought of but decided not to say. Yes it notes that the players are coming to play, and that the fans should as well, but isn’t it also stating that the other teams visiting the K should come to play because the Royals are here to compete. It’s not only inviting teams to play, but pretty much saying that they should bring their A-game because the Royals aren’t anyone’s doormat anymore. Did you get that feeling from the slogan as well?

Or, you could be a huge skeptic like Craig Calcaterra of NBC’s Hardball Talk and write: “If normal form holds, you have approximately 72 days until the Royals season is more or less kaput, so that should be plenty of time for you to come up with little jokes and things incorporating the slogan.

But don’t use ‘Come to play… because, really, we need all the help we can get? Do you have a glove? If not, we can get you one.’  Because I already thought of it.”

Everybody’s a critic.