Kansas City got its official report on the All-Star Game Thursday, and it was a positive report.
The City Manager's office said 150,000 out-of-towners descended on the city, boosting hotel receipts for more than a week and tripling last year's hotel figures in two days.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum had 5,000 visitors in two weeks. All visitors asked said they were favorably impressed. Public relations spokesman Pat O'Neill said a big part of that was a man many say was snubbed by major-league baseball and the Royals.
“Frank White was just a tremendous volunteer asset. And he spoke for our city, and I think he spoke for it in the right tone," O'Neill said. "He wasn't representing Major League Baseball, he wasn't representing the Royals, he was representing the mayor and council and the city. Kind of one of our home-grown treasures.”
One disappointment: FanFest at Bartle Hall drew a very respectable 119,000 fans, but the one in St. Louis three years ago drew more than 150,000. Stacy Bartlett of the Convention and Visitors Bureau said that may have been because the heat wave discouraged people from going out.
