As far as we know, every member of the Kansas City Royals has been accounted for. A life-sized Royals figure reminiscent of the old Starting Lineup figures, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

A billboard located on Interstate 435 advertising the defending World Series champions featured a life-sized Royals player popping out of the billboard advertising Hy-Vee, and making a leaping catch, possibly robbing a driver-by of a home run. That fake player is now MIA after thieves managed to tear the player off the board and make off with it. That’s pretty cunning.

“I would like to believe that somebody out having a good time last night thought that would be a really cool thing to do, but I don’t know,” said Bob Fessler, a vice president with the local company Lamar Advertising.

So a few questions come up with this theft. What do you do with that figure once you get away with the crime? Use it to drive legally in a car pool lane? Have some fun going through the McDonald’s drive-thru? Pull up to random people and try to impress them by driving around with a Royals player? The possibilities are pretty fascinating, no?

Furthermore, there are five other billboards similar in style located around the Kansas City area. For now, the four remaining billboards are apparently safe, but maybe a watchful eye should stay on those four billboards. The thieves may strike again and look for a friend for their new fake Royals pal. To play it safe, though, two of those billboards have already been taken down. The timing may suggest this is a precaution, but the billboards were scheduled to be coming down soon anyway, and placed in storage until needed again.

[Kansas City Star]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.