KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A popular refrain for Kansas City baseball fans as their team blazes through the playoffs is that they’re ready to party like it’s 1985, when the Royals beat St. Louis for their first World Series title.

But with a farm crisis raging, interest rates skyrocketing and the economy in shambles 29 years ago, would they really want to?

The NBA’s Kansas City Kings moved to California that year and Union Station closed its doors after decades of neglect. With its empty storefronts, downtown was decades away from its revival as an entertainment mecca, and Kemper Arena was still city’s premier indoor sports venue.

Former Royals second baseman Frank White says a lot more than the old AstroTurf has changed since the team’s glory days, much of it for the better.