Chiefs Travis Kelce Delivers First-Pitch Strike Prior To Kansas City Royals Game, Redeeming His Previous Terrible Attempt

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I keep saying that I'm tired of writing about Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. But then I keep writing about Travis Kelce. So, really, this is on me. He threw out the first pitch at the Royals game on Monday night prior to their contest against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Royals, one of the worst teams in baseball, tried to drum up interest for a Monday night game against the visiting Reds. The team billed it as "redemption" for Kelce, who failed earlier this season when he threw out a first pitch in Cleveland.

The gimmick worked, at least from an attendance perspective. The Royals drew 20,500 fans to the ballpark on Monday. That bested their previous home game attendance by over 50%.

Against the Colorado Rockies last Sunday, just over 13,000 fans attended. In their most recent Monday night home game -- against the Detroit Tigers on May 22 -- the team had just over 14,000 fans in the park.

Fans show up to Royals game to cheer on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who threw out the first pitch in Kansas City Monday night

Travis Kelce delivered a strike to home plate this time, and the crowd went nuts.

Unfortunately for the fans, that was probably the highlight of the evening. The Royals managed to get to extra innings against the Reds, but lost 5-4 in the 10th.

The loss is the team's 7th in a row and 10th in their last 11 games. They fell to 18-48 on the season. That's technically one game better than the Oakland Athletics (18-50) for last place in Major League Baseball.

Those are the only two teams yet to reach 20 wins and here we are in Mid-June.

Travis Kelce speaks to the crowd as the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs are honored prior to the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on June 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Travis Kelce speaks to the crowd as the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs are honored prior to the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on June 12, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Perhaps the team should just trot out Kansas City Chiefs to throw out the first pitch at every home game to drum up interest.

Or, hell, give Patrick Mahomes a chance to start on the mound for the team. Mahomes did play on Texas Tech's baseball team, after all.

And he can't be much worse than the players on the field right now.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.