KANSAS CITY -- Many of the Royals are familiar with Prince's work, though perhaps not huge fans.
Prince, a musical legend, died at age 57 on Thursday.
"For most of us, he was like our dad's generation's music," catcher Drew Butera said. "But I liked his songs. Definitely, it's a sad day."
Butera actually might have met Prince through his dad, Sal, a former big league catcher who played for the Twins in the early 1980s.
"When my dad played in Minneapolis [Prince's home city]," Butera said, "he told me that Prince would always come to the ballpark. And he'd always come in the clubhouse and hang with the guys.
"I might have met him, but I would have been too young to remember. But my dad told me stories about how Prince used to be good pals with [Kirby] Puckett and he'd be in the clubhouse with his entourage. My dad said Prince would just kind of glide across the room when he would come in. I always thought that was pretty cool. I can picture that."
Left-hander Danny Duffy also said he was a fan of some of Prince's music.
"The thing I remember most about Prince was that Super Bowl XLI show he did at halftime," Duffy said. "It was raining pretty good and everyone thought it was going to ruin his show, but he got out there in the rain and just nailed it. It was so good.
"I feel bad for all of his big fans today."