Published on Show Me Mizzou April 24, 2026
Photos by Amy Kontras
Amy Kontras, BJ ’13, photographed the Kansas City Royals’ MJ Melendez mid-drenching during a 2024 postgame celebration after the team defeated the Chicago White Sox.
“Most nights you’re fighting chaos, water or bad luck, but this time the light was right, and the sports drink was perfectly tinted,” she says. “The powder blue jerseys sealed it for me.” Kontras is a freelance photojournalist and contract photographer for the Royals based in Kansas City, Mo. Her work has appeared in Major League Baseball materials, TIME Magazine, Red Bull Media House, and The New York Times.
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