Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Improbable Royals Rally Means Fan Gets Puppy

Katie Castan will get her puppy, but she's waiting until after the playoffs to adopt.

Castan was the Kansas City Royals fan spotted by TBS cameras in the middle of the fifth inning of Tuesday's wild card game between the Oakland A's and Royals holding a sign saying the man she was with would buy her a puppy if the Royals won.

When we went to look for her in the 10th inning of Tuesday night's game, we found her section, but the fans around her said she left. While Castan and her boyfriend had left their seats, they hadn't left the ballpark. Castan emailed us after the game was over with a picture from the outfield concourse. The two had moved to the fountain area in the seventh inning for another beverage and to try to spark the Royals.

It worked, as the Royals came back with four runs in the eighth and ninth innings to tie a game they eventually won 9-8 in 12 innings. Castan sent us this picture of the two with the sign and their rally caps on during the game.




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The win meant that, sure enough, Castan was getting a puppy. But how did the stakes come about? It might have been a ploy by Castan's boyfriend to keep her watching.

"My boyfriend Joe [Onofrio] made the bet with me in the middle of the summer - we were sitting on the couch and I think I was frustrated with the Royals (they were struggling around the end of June) and wanted to change the channel," Castan said in an email to Yahoo Sports. "He basically said if we won the division or made it past the wild card game, and if I paid attention to the games when we watched and could name at least 10 players on the team by the end of the year, he'd get me a puppy. I think it was his way of keeping me watching the games ... but I just really wanted that puppy!"

While Castan had a picture of a Corgi wearing a crown on her sign and she really likes the breed, she says the couple will likely adopt a small dog from K.C. Pet Project, a local animal shelter after the playoffs conclude. She doesn't want to miss any Royals games.

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