Major League Baseball

Royals 'eBay' fan heading to ALCS eight wins away from tattoo -- and loving it

Published Oct. 10, 2014 10:33 a.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It's official: Even the woman with the most to lose if the Kansas City Royals win it all wants to see the Royals win it all.

"My wife was actually joking about it the other day; she was totally against the idea," Chad Carroll, honor-bound to get a tattoo on his (ahem) backside if his beloved (and sometimes estranged) Royals win the World Series, tells FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "She told all my friends, 'You guys aren't the ones that are going to have to look at it all the time.'

"And then, watching the Wild Card Game and watching the Angels (get swept by Kansas City in the American League Division Series), she is absolutely feeling the excitement. And she's anxious for me to get the tattoo as well."

If the name doesn't ring a bell, his claim to Royals fame might: Carroll is the Kansas City fan who once infamously auctioned off his affections to the club -- the one he grew up rooting for in northwest Iowa -- on eBay in 2006, when he was living in Maryland and serving with the Air Force.

Fast forward eight years, and Carroll will be returning to Maryland to watch his Royals, in person, tonight (weather permitting) at Game 1 of the American League Championship Series at Camden Yards.

"I have some corporate hook-ups that were able to (come through)," says Carroll, who now makes his home in Texas. "A friend of a friend did us a favor."

Friday: Box seats. Saturday: A spot behind the visiting dugout. Some favor. Heck, some friend.

"You know, we match up really well with the Orioles," Carroll says of the Royals, who took four of the seven head-to-head meetings during the regular season. "And to be honest with you, I'm absolutely shocked we swept the Angels, but I'm not shocked that we beat them. ... I'm absolutely ecstatic that we swept them and had those extra rest days because I think (Royals manager) Ned Yost needs all the preparation time that he can get."

Watch the Boulevard Royals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Kansas City after every Kansas City Royals postseason game.

Easy now: Our man Ned is one win away from tying Whitey Herzog and Jim Frey for the second-highest number of postseason victories (five) by a Royals skipper in franchise history.

"I'll tell you what," says Carroll, who attended the Royals' epic 9-8 win in extra innings over Oakland at Kauffman Stadium, the club's first playoff game -- and playoff victory -- since 1985. "Other than that one (Yordano) Ventura move (in relief against the Athletics), it's been an impressive display of managerial skill on his part. He's making me eat my words as well."

Speaking of words, Carroll recently promised one of his best friends that not only will he get a Royals-centric tattoo where the sun doesn't shine, he'll actually let his pal -- an Orioles fan, by the way -- help design it.

"It will be the greatest tattoo I've ever had in my life, if I get it," Carroll says. "I'm fully prepared. I'm absolutely prepared."

Better yet, his better half is, too.

That's Chad Carroll at the AL Wild Card Game, in the white jersey inside the green circle, just before Sal Perez's game-winning hit.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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