Ahead of Saturday’s ceremony, Lorenzo Cain talks Royals fans, 1738 and bond with Salvy

As the Royals prepare to celebrate Lorenzo Cain on Saturday, let’s turn the clock back to late July in 2015.

The Royals had the best record in the American League at that time and led the Central division by nine games. Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” echoed in the clubhouse and Royals players were inserting numbers from the start of that song — 1738 — into interviews with the media.

“Trap Queen” was Cain’s walk-up song and he talked recently about how 1738 became synonymous with that championship team.

“It was just a fun thing that we kind of started in the clubhouse,” Cain said last month before his induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. “We were rolling at the time and you know in baseball if you get on a hot streak with anything you just kind of roll with it. We were just trying to find ways to include the number 1738. That was the biggest thing. How much you love your teammates from 17 to 38. Like we were just throwing random numbers.

“We were finding ways to use 17 and 38 as much as we can. So it was just a little fun thing we started and like I said, in baseball when you’re hot you don’t change anything, so we just ran with it.“

They ran with it all the way to a World Series parade through the streets of Kansas City three-plus months later.

Cain will be back in Kansas City on Saturday when he officially retires as a member of the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. First pitch for Saturday’s game against the Oakland A’s is at 6:10 p.m. The Cain ceremony will start at 5:40 p.m.

Ned Yost, who managed that championship team, will be back for the celebration, along with former Royals left fielder Alex Gordon and Rusty Kuntz, the team’s special assistant to the general manager/quality control.

And there will be one other person who has special ties to Cain.

Catcher Salvador Perez, the last remaining member of the World Series championship team with the Royals, will be there, too. When the Royals were on top of the baseball world, fans loved the brotherly love between Perez and Cain that often was on display on Salvy’s Instagram account.

“Really, that kind of got things started and it kind of kicked things off — my relationship with Salvy and the fans as well — because he loves the fans 100%,” Cain said. “I’m trying to follow the team from afar. It’s a great relationship we’ve always had and I’m definitely excited to retire on (Saturday) and just go up and give him a big ol’ hug once I see him.”

Cain played a significant role in the Royals’ consecutive trips to the World Series. He was a defensive star in both postseasons, won MVP honors in the 2014 American League Championship Series, scored from first on Eric Hosmer’s single in the deciding sixth game of the 2015 ALCS and had a three-run double in the 12th inning of the clinching Game 5 of the World Series.

But honestly, what many fans may remember most about Cain is his smile.

Cain was so beloved in Kansas City that he received a standing ovation from Royals fans in 2018 when he returned to Kauffman Stadium as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Fans again cheered Cain after he hit a home run for the Brewers during the game. As he circled the bases to applause from the opposing fans, Cain had an epiphany.

“That’s when I knew. When I came back and played, I just saw it, they showed me how much they cared about me, respected me and loved me as a player,” Cain said. “And I knew right then and there that I was gonna come back here and retire. Because you hit a home run with the opposing team and they’re cheering, I mean, what else can you ask for?”