Since Royals Owner David Glass became interim CEO & Chair in '93 and later team owner, he "no doubt could hear those pings and jeers and feel those jabs" from fans over the team's 29-year playoff drought, but he "downplayed that in the glory of the moment Wednesday," when the team advanced to the World Series, according to Vahe Gregorian of the K.C. STAR. Gregorian: "This Glass house induced a lot of stones cast its way during the 21-plus years since he began his tenure at the helm of the organization." Glass: "Taking the heat never bothered me because … as long as I knew we were going in the right direction and doing the right things for Kansas City and for the Royals. You know, so be it: In the end you win." Glass "wasn’t crowing over the Royals’ breakout when he said that about winning in the end." His point "was more about the worthiness of the broader venture of custodianship of the franchise, something he still describes more as a civic mission than an exercise in capitalism." Glass: "Our goal here has never been to make money on this franchise: It’s to keep the franchise in Kansas City, to win pennants and to try to break even" (K.C. STAR, 10/17).
WE WANT MOORE! In Chicago, Paul Sullivan wrote it took Royals GM Dayton Moore nine years to "see his plan come to fruition, and he took quite a few body blows along the way." But Glass "stuck with him, and now it's paying off." Moore: "The Glass family stayed with us a long time and believed in us. We just tried to be as honest as we could and articulate who we were and where we were, and we're going to the World Series" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/17). In N.Y., Tyler Kepner writes Glass "has never given Moore a very high payroll, but he has provided him with something even more precious: the time to implement a vision that has, at last, led the Royals to the World Series." Royals Senior Advisor to the GM/Scouting & Player Development Mike Arbuckle said of Moore, "I know he took heat because, along the way, when we weren’t winning as much as fans thought we should, he used the word ‘process,’ and people made fun of that. But it was a process. He stuck to every part of the process to get us where we are, and his leadership has allowed us to do that." Kepner notes Moore "has emphasized consistency of vision, from Glass on down." Moore: "Part of creating organizational harmony is articulating a plan and doing everything you can to execute it" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/17).
ROYAL CELEBRATION: K.C. Sports Commission President & CEO Kathy Nelson said that for this weekend's Waddell & Reed K.C. Marathon, event organizers are "working with the Royals for a starting-line celebration" of the team, but she added that nothing "was set in stone" yet. She said that Visit KC "would be handing out Royals signs to the festive crowd" (K.C. STAR, 10/17).
