KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Watching the only team he ever loved stumble through a long parade of wasted seasons has just about broken George Brett’s heart.
“It’s been a tough 24 years to be honest with you,” he said.
When that famous picture of him and Bret Saberhagen leaping joyfully into each other’s arms after the final out of the 1985 World Series was snapped, the jaunty Royals were one of the most envied franchises in the majors. They’d won six division titles, two AL pennants and a world championship in 10 exciting seasons.
They owned this town.
Now, they own the longest playoff drought in the American League.
But maybe there’s finally some reason for hope. After all, Tampa Bay, Colorado and Detroit were cellar-dwellers before they all made surprising runs to the World Series within the past three seasons.
Milwaukee reached the postseason last year for the first time since 1982. And 23 of the 30 major league clubs have appeared in the playoffs this decade.
years and trying to accrue young talent. So perhaps it’ll soon be Kansas City’s turn for a turnaround.
“If we didn’t think we could win in Kansas City, we wouldn’t have come here,” said general manager Dayton Moore, brought over from the Braves’ front office in 2006. “We know it can be done in Kansas City. We also understand there are some different challenges, or unique challenges to our market.”
There was a time, however, when the Royals never thought they would sink so low.
But then general manager John Schuerholz left for Atlanta. Ewing Kauffman, the generous and farsighted team founder, died without finding a successor.
Like bad-hop grounders, faulty decisions came rolling out of an incompetent front office. Most of all, the game itself underwent a fundamental economic shift that favored big-market teams.
Since Brett and Saberhagen embraced on that October night in ’85, the Royals haven’t played a postseason game. Bad management and skyrocketing costs doomed a once-proud baseball town to seemingly permanent second-class status. In some years, third-class.
An entire generation of Kansas Citians has grown to adulthood and begun raising another generation without once experiencing playoff fun.
for seven years. And I think some things were not done in the best interests of the ballclub.”
Finally, things may be changing. Ownership by the David Glass family seems committed to improving the club. Most significantly, Glass persuaded Moore to leave Atlanta – where he worked under Schuerholz – and take over a failing franchise.
Since then, the Royals have opened their checkbook, upgraded their sadly out-of-date computer system, renovated an aging stadium and sizably strengthened a tissue-thin scouting department.
Each of the past three years, they’ve quietly increased their win total. With a dash of luck, 2009 could prove that long-awaited breakthrough season when they finally put a team on the field their long-suffering fans and Hall of Fame third baseman can be proud of.
“I think there is a lot of reason for optimism here this year,” said Brett, who still puts on his uniform and helps out every spring training.
When he arrived in June 2006, Moore encountered one of the sickest franchises in professional sports, not just baseball. The Royals lost 100 games that year and had a major league-worst ERA of 5.65.
He immediately went to work building a new organization, piece by piece. Beefing up scouting and player development was job one.
regions where other teams employed full-time professional scouts.
At Moore’s insistence, they added 16 permanent positions in scouting and player development, hiring well-regarded people from successful clubs and giving them key executive positions. Dean Taylor was immediately brought over from Cincinnati as assistant general manager.
In 2007, Jin Wong was promoted to director of the newly created position of director of baseball administration, and Lonnie Goldberg left Atlanta to become director of baseball operations. Another former Brave, J.J. Picollo, was installed as director of player development.
Trey Hillman, a huge success in Japan, was hired as manager in 2008. People say he and Moore are so closely matched, they even look alike.
The Royals also have made a big push to increase their presence in Latin America, and acquired an extra minor league team.
“There are certainly some things we’re proud of to this point and there are some other things we wish we’d done a little differently,” Moore said. “But we’ve just got to remain focused on the process of putting the best team on the field we can each day and, at the same time, build the farm system.”
Pitching will continue to be the major focus.
year and Colorado the year before is because their starting pitching performed very well.”
This will also be the year the Royals move into a spruced-up and renovated Kauffman Stadium. Jackson County taxpayers three years ago approved a sales tax increase that will make up almost all of the $275 million used to create what will practically be a brand new stadium greeting fans in the April 10 home opener.
When the taxpayers agreed to come through, so did Glass. In the past three years, he’s spent $55 million on free-agent pitcher Gil Meche, $36 million on free-agent outfielder Jose Guillen, and, this year, given pitcher Zack Greinke, a former No. 1 draft pick, a $38 million long-term deal.
One of the surest signs that Moore’s front office team can compete with the big boys was getting closer Joakim Soria. Taken in the Rule 5 draft, the right-hander had 42 saves in 45 chances last year and established himself as an All-Star. He, too, has signed a long-term contract.
But to reach the next level in a wide-open AL Central, the Royals will need third baseman Alex Gordon, the No. 2 overall pick in 2005, to have a big breakthrough. First baseman Mike Jacobs, obtained in the offseason from Florida, will need to supply much-needed power and Coco Crisp, acquired from Boston, will have to be the leadoff hitter who’s been lacking since Johnny Damon left for greener pastures and bigger paychecks.
eryone else in Kansas City is painfully aware that the Royals have had only one winning season in 14 years. They finished fourth in the division last season at 75-87.
But if they do become winners again, longtime Royals fans have no trouble picturing crowds flocking to the ballpark the way they did in the 1970s and ’80s.
“I hope so,” Brett said. “I think if they start off winning, (fans) will come back. If they start out losing, it is going to be a tough sale.”
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