Results tagged ‘ George Brett ’
Around the Horn perspective: “You Don’t Know Bo”
The newest ESPN “30 for 30” airs tonight (December 8, 8 C.T. on ESPN) after the Heisman Trophy announcement and features a winner of the Heisman – one Bo Jackson. Bo’s story is one that always has sports fans saying…what if? What if his football injury had not happened?
While the injury was devastating, the film has a lot of humor as it traces Bo’s story from Bessemer, Alabama to the current day. We’ll leave most of the details a surprise and just say that this is a MUST SEE for any Royals fan (or sports fan or…anyone, for that matter).
You’ll see interview clips with: George Brett, Mark Gubicza, Royals beat writer Dick Kaegel, Royals Hall of Fame Director Curt Nelson and Royals Senior Advisor Art Stewart.
Below are details on my perspective as to how the “30 for 30” unfolded.
In May, I received a call from Kelsey Field, associate producer of “You Don’t Know Bo” for Radical Media. I helped her with background information and photos. She wanted to get in contact with people who knew Bo during his time in Kansas City. Jackson signed with the Royals in 1986 and many of the people who knew him have moved on. He was signed by Ken Gonzales, who sadly passed away in 1994. I checked with former scouting director and current senior advisor Art Stewart, who is a great baseball storyteller. He knows Bo well and was more than happy to speak with Kelsey by phone.
Fellow media relations staffer Dina Blevins arranged a time for Hall of Famer George Brett to talk with the production staff by phone (so they could get more information for the eventual on-site interview). Kelsey worked with our media relations boss, Mike Swanson, to arrange a date for production in Kansas City. Radical’s staff had several other stops to make – including Jackson’s hometown in Alabama, Auburn, L.A., Chicago and Nike’s headquarters in Oregon. Radical had to match up their schedule with interviewee availability of George Brett, Art Stewart and Dick Kaegel. And don’t forget…we had to work around our own busy schedule with the All-Star Game on July 10!
Radical’s team visited Kansas City on July 17 and 18. They took exterior shots of The K on July 17. The next morning, they interviewed George Brett and spent time with him on the field. Members of the staff had a few minutes between interview segments with Art Stewart and Dick Kaegel. I suggested a trip to the Royals Hall of Fame to get b-roll of Bo Jackson items that were in storage. They met with Royals Hall of Fame director Curt Nelson. Film director Michael Bonfiglio was so impressed with Curt that he asked him to interview for the piece!
When you wake up each day, you never know what may happen. Curt knew that the “30 for 30” crew was coming to Kansas City, but he had no idea that he was going to be interviewed. As you watch the story unfold, you’ll see Curt’s comments were in several parts of the film. Curt hired me in the marketing department nearly seven years ago. He is a good friend and I am happy that he got the opportunity to share his views of Bo’s story.
Enjoy the show!
Royals Awards Luncheon Photos (2 of 2)
Royals Awards Luncheon Photos (1 of 2)
Photos: Caravan visits Topeka VA and Fort Riley
The Royals Caravan recently visited Topeka, Fort Riley and Manhattan. The first stop was the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center in Topeka, where the group of George Brett, Dennis Leonard, Joe Randa and Jason Kendall met with patients and staff. Stop number two was Fort Riley, where the Royals were welcomed by members of the 4th Brigade. Our group finished the day in Manhattan, where they watched K-State take on Baylor.
Photos: Royals Awards show
Hardware was handed out on Saturday afternoon at the Royals Awards show, which honored Billy Butler, Bruce Chen, Joakim Soria and all of the organizational award winners. Let’s take a look!
Chen, the Joe Burke Special Achievement winner, and Soria, the Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year, congratulated one another after the event. Both players were very proud and appreciative of the awards. Bruce, who worked his way back from “Tommy John” surgery in 2007, wanted to make sure that his award arrived to his Arizona home without a scratch – so he bought a seat on the plane for it!
Billy Butler received his second Les Milgram Player of the Year honor on the same day that would see him ink a long-term contract with the Royals.
Mike Moustakas was all smiles as he received the George Brett Hitter of the Year honor from the Hall of Fame third baseman.
John Lamb earned the Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year award. John, who turns 21 in July, will be the youngest player in Kansas City’s Major League camp at spring training.
Eric Hosmer won the Carolina League batting title and slugged key playoff home runs in the Texas League playoffs in 2010. On Saturday, he was recognized for the other part of his game with the Frank White Defensive Player of the Year award.
Derrick Robinson took his game to another level in 2010, setting a career high in batting average. Robinson, who led the Texas League with 50 stolen bases, earned the Willie Wilson Baserunner of the Year award for the second time. Wilson pointed out that Robinson is outstanding at both baserunning and base stealing.
Former Missouri State pitcher Buddy Baumann received the Mike Sweeney Award from the five-time All-Star. The award goes to the minor league player who best represents the organization off of the field. Baumann participated in a variety of community events while with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2010.
Royals announce 2010 organizational award winners
The Royals are pleased to announce the remaining organizational award winners for the 2010 season. The honorees will be recognized at the 2011 Royals Awards Show, scheduled for Saturday, January 22 in conjunction with Royals FanFest presented by Sprint and Teva Neuroscience at the Overland Park Convention Center.
During the event, the Royals will recognize 12 honorees for their contributions both on and off the field in 2010. Former Royals greats such as George Brett and Willie Wilson will be among the presenters in attendance.
Previously, the club announced the following award recipients as voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Royals’ closer Joakim Soria was the selection for the 2010 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year while Billy Butler was the 2010 Les Milgram Player of the Year for the second straight season. Starter Bruce Chen was named the 2010 Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner.
The remaining award recipients to be recognized at the event include:
Mike Moustakas, recipient of the George Brett Hitter of the Year – recognizing the organization’s top hitter. The 22-year-old third baseman combined to hit .322 with NW Arkansas (AA) and Omaha (AAA), tying for the minor league lead with 36 home runs. The Royals’ first-round selection (2nd overall) in 2007 also posted 41 doubles and drove in 124 in being named the Sporting News Minor League Hitter of the Year, the Texas League Player of the Year, and a Baseball America 2010 first-team Minor League All-Star.
John Lamb, recipient of the Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year - recognizing the organization’s top pitcher. The 20-year-old pitched at three levels of the Royals system in 2010, wrapping up at NW Arkansas. The six-foot-three lefty from Laguna Hills, Calif., was a combined 10-7 with a 2.38 ERA in 28 starts, allowing 122 hits in 147.2 innings, striking out 159 and walking just 45. Lamb was a fifth-round pick of the Royals in 2008.
Derrick Robinson, recipient of the Willie Wilson Base Runner of the Year - recognizing the organization’s top base runner. The 23-year-old patrolled center field for the Texas League-champion Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2010, hitting .286 with a league-leading 50 stolen bases in 67 attempts. The speedster, drafted by the Royals in the fourth round in 2006, has swiped 236 bases in his professional career, including 181 in his last three campaigns, and is a two-time winner of the Willie Wilson Award, also earning the honor in 2008.
Eric Hosmer, recipient of the Frank White Defensive Player of the Year – recognizing the organization’s top defensive player. Hosmer, 21, is an athletic first baseman who posted a .988 fielding percentage in 80 games at Wilmington (A Advanced) before upping that mark to .994 in 43 games at first for NW Arkansas. At the plate, the Royals’ first-round pick (3rd overall) in 2008 batted a combined .338 with 43 doubles, nine triples, 20 home runs, 86 RBI and 87 runs, also stealing 14 bases in 16 attempts.
Buddy Baumann, recipient of the Mike Sweeney Award - recognizing a player who best represents the organization on and off the field. The 23-year-old left-handed pitcher tirelessly volunteered for numerous community events throughout the 2010 season, visiting Wilmington-area schools and hospitals and conducting several baseball clinics. Kansas City’s seventh-round selection in 2009 was 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three relief appearances for Burlington (A) to begin 2010 before going 4-2 with four saves and posting a 2.24 ERA in 31 games (14 starts) for Wilmington.
Brian Poldberg, recipient of the Dick Howser Player Development Person of the Year – recognizing an outstanding member of player development. The only manager the NW Arkansas Naturals have ever known, Poldberg led the club to the Texas League Championship in 2010. The team was also recently recognized as the Baseball America Minor League Club of the Year. After ending a seven-year playing career, the Carter Lake, Iowa resident has been a coach and instructor in the Royals organization since 1987.
Sean Gibbs, recipient of the Art Stewart Scout of the Year – recognizing an outstanding scout. Gibbs has served the Royals organization as an area scout since 2007. He has scouted and signed several players including 2010 Burlington (R) Pitcher of the Year Crawford Simmons.
Andrew Layman, assistant general manager of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, is the recipient of the Matt Minker Award – recognizing an outstanding minor league affiliate employee. Layman has directed the merchandise, ticket and stadium operations departments during his 19-year Blue Rocks tenure. In 1998, he received the Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Award for best exemplifying the spirit of volunteerism in recognition of his time invested with a local teen. The Malvern, Pa. native is a 1992 graduate of Lynchburg College where he played lacrosse. He currently makes his home in Wilmington with fiance, Jordan, and their son, Mason.
In addition, the Royals will honor Chuck Sailors with the Dan Quisenberry Special Achievement Award - recognizing an outstanding member of the community. In 2004, Sailors founded the KC Urban Youth Center at 28th and Troost in Kansas City, Mo. Today, the center is part of three low-income housing communities in urban Kansas City serving more than 300 students and their families each year. Sailors and his staff work daily with a holistic approach in order to offer hope, community and wholeness to children and youth living in traditionally underserved communities.
From Mike to Mike (Fiore to Aviles): Home runs 1 to 5,000
Mike Fiore hit the first home run in Royals’ history on April 13, 1969 at Oakland. Fittingly, another Mike hit number 5,000 as Mike Aviles belted a fifth-inning home run on Sunday in Cleveland.
Between Fiore and Aviles, 255 Royals have combined for 107 grand slams, 94 inside-the-park home runs, 68 pinch-hit home runs (including four grand slams), 57 walk-off home runs, eight home runs by a pitcher and six home runs that were part of a cycle. George Brett is the franchise leader, accounting for 317 (or 6.34%) of the 5,000 home runs.
Photos: Royals Celebrity Golf Tournament benefits Special Olympics
Players, alumni and broadcasters were among the participants in the third annual Royals Celebrity Golf Tournament, held on Monday at The National Golf Club of Kansas City. The team captained by alum Al Fitzmorris (third picture below) won the title. Squads captained by Gil Meche and Denny Matthews also tied for the top spot, but lost a tiebreaker to Fitzmorris’ team. Here are some photos of a great day on the course!
Birthday wishes to George Brett!
Happy birthday, George! The Hall of Fame third baseman is 57 today.
New Kansas City manager Ned Yost meets with the media
Royals Manager Ned Yost had his first press conference today in front of a standing room only contingent of media in the Kauffman Stadium interview room.
Yost has been following Kansas City’s Double-A affiliate, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, for the last week General Manager Dayton Moore contacted Yost about the managing job on Thursday morning. After accepting the job, he sifted through possible lineups at his Springfield, Mo., hotel room. Yost was awake until 3:30 this morning. He took a two-hour nap and was up at 5:30 for the drive to Kansas City! He doesn’t anticipate major radical changes in the lineup at this time.
Yost described himself as a person who has a knack for motivating players. He wants to work heavily with individual players at first. While Trey Hillman was a hands on manager, Yost is not. He said that Trey Hillman did a great job of getting players prepared every day and that the players have been a class act. The club is a little shell-shocked at the moment. Yost’s main job at the moment is to get the players to leave everything they have on the field every day. He believes that this club is more advanced than the club that he inherited in Milwaukee and that they are not that far away from turning things around.
Yost stated that 85 percent of his managing philosophy comes from Bobby Cox, who he worked for in Atlanta. The other 15 percent comes from what Yost learned as Milwaukee’s manager.
He knows that the Royals have ingredients for success in their minor league system. Yost believes that Mike Moustakas will be a “big-time Major League player”. He also mentioned that Milwaukee (where he managed previously) stockpiled young power hitters like Prince Fielder, while the Royals are stockpiling young power pitchers including Aaron Crow and Mike Montgomery.
Yost’s philosophy on coaching is to have one coach totally in charge of the infield and one totally in charge of the outfield. Rusty Kuntz is back as the first base coach and will coach the outfielders, a position he held in 2008 and 2009. Yost emphasized the importance of bringing Kuntz back. Eddie Rodriguez will shift to the third base coaching box. He will also be the infield coach. Rodriguez speaks fluent Spanish and Yost believes that will factor into Rodriguez’ work with infielders Alberto Callaspo and Yuniesky Betancourt.
Yost believes that this is an attractive job. He is up for the challenge and understands the frustration of the fan base. He has full confidence that he can do the job. He added that George Brett (who celebrates a birthday on Saturday) called him from Italy and wished him well.
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