Kansas City, Mo. ? Fans of the Kansas City Royals are not alone in having a change of attitude since last year’s stunning 21-game turnaround.

“The better our team appears to be, the more grief I get from the other owners,” owner David Glass said Friday at the Royals’ annual forecast luncheon. “Now there is not one other owner in our division who speaks civilly to me.”

The crowd, which appeared larger than the one at last year’s luncheon, broke into applause.

Winning 83 games last season, one year after losing 100, has ignited more interest in the Royals than Kansas City has seen in 10 years. Ticket sales and media attention are both on the upswing.

“People used to come up to me at the airport and in restaurants and say, ‘How come our team is so lousy?”‘ Glass said. “Now they come up to me and say, ‘Who’s going to bat leadoff?’ People are excited, and it’s great to see.”

A 9-0 start made the Royals the talk of baseball last April. Then a September fade left them in third place in the AL Central behind Minnesota and Chicago.

But while the Twins and White Sox both lost key players in the offseason, the Royals worked hard to add talent. Veteran catcher Benito Santiago will help mentor a young pitching staff, while two-time MVP Juan Gonzalez adds punch to a lineup that outscored several of last year’s playoff teams.

The only player the Royals wanted to keep but lost was outfielder Raul Ibanez, who signed a free-agent contract with Seattle. The increased interest has been reflected in season ticket sales. A year ago at this time, Glass said, the Royals had sold 225 new season tickets. This year, that total is up to 1,600.

“We’re going to have 10 or 11 new players on our roster,” Glass said. “With the new players and with what we did last year, it’s something I believe we can build on for the future. Now I’m tired of football. I’m tired of basketball. Let’s get on with baseball.”

Many preseason publications will probably have the Royals as the AL Central favorites. If they do make the postseason, it will be for the first time since 1985.

“The progress we have made, it is exciting,” reliever Jason Grimsley said. “I get calls all the time from the other guys on the team. They want to get started. They’re eager. It’s great to have the town all abuzz.”

On a more sober note, Glass appealed to the crowd to get behind efforts to refurbish Kauffman Stadium or build a new facility altogether.

“We need to upgrade our stadium,” he said. “Twenty-two stadiums in the major leagues have either been built or upgraded since Kauffman Stadium was opened (in 1973).”

A bistate sales tax which would include five counties on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri line has been proposed to raise revenue for innovations for both Kauffman and the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. It was supposed to be on the ballot last year, but was withdrawn.

“I’m hoping we can get something done soon,” Glass said. “We still have one of the most beautiful parks in the major leagues. But buildings get old.”