KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bo knows Wil. Sort of.
A little.
OK, not really.
"He kind of knew who I was," Wil Myers, the Kansas City Royals' top prospect, recalled with a grin as he sat inside the home clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium. "But he didn't really know anything about me."
That'll change, you feel, after Sunday night. Myers, the Royals' 6-foot-3 outfielder of the future, knocked in three runs, laid out a camera and got a standing ovation during the 2012 All-Star Futures game. And to think: Up until then, his biggest thrill during All-Star Weekend had been meeting Bo Jackson, the Royals' outfielder of the past, Saturday at FanFest.
"I got to take a picture with him," the 21-year-old slugger said. "So that was cool."
Sunday was cooler. Way cooler.
It started during pregame introductions, when the stadium exploded as soon as his name was announced. The love continued when Myers came to bat in the bottom of the first; the pro-Royals crowd rose in tribute, as if the 40,095 in the house were offering an overdue salute for the 27 home runs and 72 RBI he'd racked up over the first half of the season.
"The reaction from the fans was overwhelming," said Myers, whose two hits helped the United States team crush the World squad, 17-5. "I got a lot of butterflies in my stomach when that happened. I mean, I don't get nervous, really, in any games. It was just crazy to know the fans are behind you that much."
It would get crazier once he took his position in right field, where the North Carolina native found himself serenaded by onlookers sitting around the fountains.
"MY-ERS! MY-ERRRS!"
"MY-ERS! MY-ERRRS!"
"It was cool to hear that," the outfielder said. "I guess the fans were excited about it."
Ya think?
"They're all here for you, man," shortstop Billy Hamilton, the speedster who's racked up 104 steals for Cincinnati's Class A Bakersfield club, teased Myers before the contest.
The kid might be the most popular athlete in Kansas City who doesn't actually play in Kansas City. When the conversation turns to Myers, Royals fans start to chirp like that brat in the back seat of the car, bored of the open road. Is he here yet? Is he here yet? Is he here yet?
"I got the question a lot of, ‘When are you going to be here?'" Myers said of FanFest, where he signed autographs for salivating locals. "Obviously, I have no idea."
So how many times were you asked?
Myers grinned at that one.
"Once."
Really?
"Naw, I'm kidding. A ton. Probably a hundred. (It was) every other person. And I really don't know the answer."
The Royals are playing it coy, too. General manager Dayton Moore was up in Omaha to check on Myers and his teammates a few weeks back, but he's been politely vague when it comes to the big guy's timetable in the short term. There are ‘Super Two' and arbitration considerations, as well as the fact that, at present, the Royals don't have a spot for him on an every-day basis — especially with center fielder Lorenzo Cain expected to return to the active roster after the All-Star break.
Myers has nothing against Omaha — honest — but after you've received a standing ovation at The K and raked before a national television audience, that ride back to the bushes gets a little harder to swallow.
"Yeah, it's going to be more tough to go back now," Myers sighed. "Obviously, being here with fans — the fans are great. You know, being here, (seeing) 40,000 fans at the game, yeah, it's going to be tough to be back. But you know, hopefully I'll be back here sooner or later."
Although he cracked on himself for taking some interesting routes while shagging fly balls, Myers clearly loves hitting here. Sunday was the second time in two years the dude had played in an exhibition at Kauffman Stadium, having appeared in the Royals' Futures Game with Class AA Northwest Arkansas last April 2. Over two stints in Kansas City, Myers is 3-for-8 with a double and three RBI. He sprayed the ball to all fields in the Futures Game, knocking in one run on a groundout to second base in the bottom of the third inning and another on a single to left in the seventh.
His at-bat in bottom of the sixth might've been the most memorable, though. Myers borrowed a page from Roy Hobbs, fouling off a pitch with such ferocity that the ball shattered an ESPN camera lens.
"I mean, that was pretty bad," he said. "I saw the replay right after the pitch. That was pretty cool."
Yeah, but how much will it cost?
"I'm not paying them anything," Myers replied quietly.
Like we said: Pretty cool.
"I mean, (he's) the biggest prospect in baseball," Las Vegas outfielder Anthony Gose said of Myers. "Everybody's talking (about) him. Everybody's talking about the call-up for him, and when it's going to happen. It's not just the media. It's just not Kansas City. It's around baseball."
It's spreading, one whisper at a time. Which means if Bo doesn't know now, brother, he will soon enough.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter @seankeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com
