Kansas City abuzz with excitement

ByJIM CAPLE
October 5, 2014, 2:03 PM

— -- After Kansas City rallied for the third time to beat the Athletics in the 12th inning of Tuesday's American League wild-card game, Royals announcer Ryan Lefebvre needed to thread his way through the impassioned crowd for a postgame spot near the outfield corner. The celebrating fans he passed along the way were so excited, so deliriously happy, that some simply opened their arms and implored Lefebvre, "Give me a hug!"

Well, that's the way it is when you've waited nearly three decades for a postseason game, longer than any other city has ever waited during the division era. You want to embrace the moment and hold it tight. And with Kansas City now needing just one more victory over the Angels to advance to the American League Champions Series, Royals fans might be even more excited -- if that's possible -- when the division series resumes Sunday in Kansas City with ace James Shields taking the mound against the Angels' C.J. Wilson.

And as great as Sunday's game might be for fans and the players, it will be even better for the scalpers. According to online ticket aggregator TiqIQ, the most expensive tickets for the division series selling on the secondary market are in Kansas City, where Royals ducats were averaging $338 on Friday. That's the highest average price for division series games since the company started tracking it in 2010.

The average price for Game 3 is even higher at $440, or well more than double the next-highest price tag for a team's opening home game ($181 for the Giants).