Just a couple of short weeks ago, I was spending my spring break in warm, sunny Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Cactus League. The Cactus League is just another name for the group of 15 Major League Baseball teams that call the greater Phoenix area their home for Spring Training.

More specifically, it is where the Kansas City Royals spend the month of March preparing for their season. Spring Training is basically like the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason football games: it doesn’t matter if they win or lose, and it’s a warmup for the regular season.

Yes. I spent my spring break watching Royals games where the superstars you saw in the World Series only played about four innings. And I loved every second of it.

This wasn’t my first year attending Spring Training games, but this year seemed different. Of course, there was an overabundant amount of conversation revolving around whether or not Alex Gordon should have been sent home in game seven of the World Series. But there was also a ton more support for the Royals then there was last year.

Everywhere I looked, I could pick out at least one Royals fan, whether it was on the drive to the baseball stadium or at my hotel’s continental breakfast, I saw someone with the cursive KC on some item of clothing. And it was awesome. It’s kind of like when you’re driving around Kansas City and you see a car with a Sion bumper sticker. You automatically feel a sense of pride and camaraderie.

With the beginning of the Royals’ regular season, there will be a lot of changes. There will be a new flag blowing in left field. A flag proclaiming the Royals’ ownership of the American League title. The players and team executives will have brand new, sparkling rings proclaiming the same thing. The Royals will be analyzed under a microscope by people questioning whether or not they can ever be as good as they were last postseason.

People will be paying attention. People will flock to Kauffman Stadium ready to see the Royals repeat their historic run to the World Series. This season more people than ever before will come to games just to say they went and to post a cute picture on Instagram. Dont’ be one of those people. Every game you go to, make it your goal to learn something new about the Royals or the game of baseball. I know I will.