KNASAS CITY, Mo. — For Missy Heilig, a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan, the last nine years have been a roller coaster of emotions.
Heilig's love for Royals baseball was woven into her family’s traditions.
“I was 10 years old, and that was like my first, 'Wow, this is so cool,'" Heilig said. "You know, I want to do this forever ... I love baseball."
Her earliest memories are filled with the sights and sounds of summer nights at Royals Stadium, where she met George Brett, the team's legendary third baseman and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"My youthfulness was growing up with baseball, everywhere, following Uncle Mike play baseball, going to the Royals," she said. "So it just brings back all the good times we used to have together."
Fast forward to when the Royals made their second World Series appearance, a moment Heilig remembers like yesterday.
"In 1985, he was still alive, and I was calling him from my dorm room and I told him, 'We're doing this, grandpa,"' she said.
But for Heilig, the 2015 World Series victory over the New York Mets was special because she got to see the Royals defy the odds and win a second World Series title.
“I was a teacher at the time, so every day with my classroom, I'm like, 'Okay, when the game comes on at three, right before you go to the buses, we're going to have to turn this on and watch it on the screen. We're not telling the principal about this,"' Heilig said.
Now, Heilig shares her passion for the team with her son and granddaughter.
“It's kind of a fifth-generation that she got to go to her first Royals game last year," Heilig said. "And a friend of ours got us seats in the Diamond Club."
As the postseason fever continues in Kansas City, many fans like Heilig are hoping to see the boys in blue back on top.
“Just excited," she said. "I mean, just thrilled that I had had hope in my heart for the whole season that we're going to do this. We can do this."
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KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.
