10 Things You May Not Have Known About The Kansas City Royals

6. The Royals Have Inducted A Groundskeeper Into The Royals' Hall Of Fame

When you think of a "Hall Of Fame" inductee within the realm of professional baseball, odds are that you are thinking of a player, manager or uniform. Maybe even a broadcaster.

While visiting the Royals Hall Of Fame at Kauffman Stadium, I recognized a lot of names who had been inducted into this exclusive institution , yet one individual truly stuck out from the others: George Toma. Toma, an American war veteran, was never a professional athlete. He is simply a groundskeeper, and for that role alone he was inducted in 2012.

Toma worked with the Kansas City Athletics prior to their Oakland relocation, then came onboard with both the Royals and NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, since both teams played at Municipal Stadium. He prepared the field for the first NFL Super Bowl, in 1967, and has worked on every Super Bowl since in some capacity. Toma has also worked as part of Olympics and World Cup events. He retired from full-time groundskeeper work in 1999 and continues to work for various American sports facilities as a consultant.

Contributor
Contributor

Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. In the years following, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Format Magazine, Businessweek, The Improper, Chicago Tribune, the L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Darren is also the host of the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" podcast, as co-produced with PureGrainAudio. He is also the author of two published books, including 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press).