Jack McKeon was the skipper in Kansas City from 1973-1975, amassing a Royals record of 215-205. McKeon’s KC managing days followed up a five year stint as a Royals minor league manager in which he won back-to-back pennants with Omaha in 1969 & 1970. Following his times with the Royals organization, McKeon managed at the MLB level with Oakland, San Diego, Cincinnati and Florida, winning a World Series (2003, Marlins) and twice being recognized as NL Manager of the Year (1999 & 2003). A completely fascinating baseball man who also spent eight years as Padres GM, “Trader Jack” recently joined Dave O to talk about an incredible array of topics, beginning with childhood and ending with managing the Marlins at the age of 80 in 2011. An absolute MUST listen for ANY baseball fan. (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Dee Brown was a 1st round selection of the Royals in the 1996 June Amateur Draft and spent nine seasons in the Kansas City organization (1998-2004 in KC). An outfielder with big time power, Brown turned down a football scholarship to Maryland in order to sign with the Royals, and appeared in 263 KC games before finishing up his MLB career with the Athletics. Dee recently joined Dave O to talk about just HOW CLOSE he was to bypassing the Royals offer for Maryland, how a hamstring pull in June of 2001 was the beginning of the end for his career, an EXTREMELY blunt self-assessment and lots more! A truly refreshing dose of honesty. (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Jason Grimsley pitched for the Royals from 2001-2004 during a career that spanned parts of 15 seasons at the major league level. While at the back end of the Kansas City bullpen, the 6-3 Grimsley appeared in 251 games with a 3.94 ERA and 7.0 K/9. He also threw at the major league level for the Phillies, Indians, Angels, Yankees, Orioles and Diamondbacks before extreme controversy with performance enhancing drugs suddenly ended his career prematurely in 2006. For the very first time since the PED investigation and according to Jason, “for the very last,” Grimsley opens about EVERYTHING to Clubhouse Conversation in an exclusive interview. (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Mark Littell pitched for the Royals organization from 1971-1977 after being selected by KC in the 12th round of the 1971 draft. Appearing in a combined 123 games while with Kansas City, Littell finished with marks of 18-13, a 3.32 ERA and 28 saves, and would go on to pitch for the Cardinals. The 6-3 right-hander later coached at the minor league level and in 1999, invented “The Nutty Buddy.” Littell recently joined Dave O to talk about not only “protecting the family jewels” but also his early days in the Royals minor league system, making it up to KC, the devastation he felt after allowing the infamous home run to Chris Chambliss in the ’76 ALCS, reuniting with Whitey Herzog in St. Louis and much more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
D.J. Carrasco pitched for the Royals from 2003-2005 after KC selected him in the Rule 5 Draft (December of 2002). Both a starter and reliever for Kansas City, the 6-4 right-hander would go on to also pitch parts of eight seasons at the Big League level for the White Sox, Pirates, Diamondbacks and Mets (24-21, 4.50 ERA). D.J. recently joined Dave O for a brutally honest and highly entertaining chat about his initial persistence of being a professional hitter (and how it cost him), overcoming non-prospect odds, the Rule 5 surprise, the magical 2003 KC season and tons more! (Photo Courtesy D.J. Carrasco)
Justin Huisman pitched for the Royals during the 2004 season after coming over to Kansas City in a trade with the Colorado Rockies. A 6-1 right-hander, Huisman appeared in 14 games with KC, before ultimately pitching with the Mariners and Astros organizations. The former University of Mississippi closer recently joined Dave O to talk about growing up in suburban Chicago with Mark Mulder, playing on the same team with his brothers in college, coming up with the Rockies, a wealth of stories about his times in KC and lots more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Joe Keough played for the Royals from 1969-1972 and will always be remembered for getting the game winning hit in the first regular season game of franchise history (4/8/69). A left handed outfielder originally from the Athletics organization, Keough was selected by the Royals in the 4th round of the expansion draft and finished with lifetime marks of .323/.319/.643 with 7 HR and 63 RBI while in a KC uniform. After his times with the Royals, Keough completed his baseball career with the White Sox. Joe recently joined Dave O to talk about being drafted by the Kansas City A’s, coming over to KC for that first season and beyond, getting the first game winning hit in Royals history and multitudes more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Ernie Young came over to the Royals from the Athletics and played for KC during the 1998 season. A right handed hitting power hitting outfielder, Young also spent time with the Diamondbacks, Tigers and Indians during an eight year major league career. Ernie recently caught up with Dave O to talk in-depth about his times playing pro ball at all the stops but also, winning a Gold Medal with Team USA, being stuck with the dreaded “Four A Label,” managing in the minor leagues and much more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Tom Murphy played parts of twelve seasons at the major league level, pitching with Kansas City in 1972 (when he went 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA). A 6-3 right-hander, Murphy spent time with the Angels, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, Red Sox and Blue Jays, finishing with marks of 68-101 with a 3.78 ERA in 1,444 innings. Murphy recently joined Dave O to talk about all of his stops, including an emphasis on KC, as well as highly entertaining pranks he and his identical twin brother pulled, what it was like playing for Red Schoendienst, Bob Lemon and Don Zimmer and much, much more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)
Terry Leach pitched for the Royals during the 1989 season after seven years with the Mets. A 6-0 submarining righty, Leach would go on to also play for the Twins and White Sox, finishing his career with marks of 38-27 and a 3.15 ERA in 376 major league appearances. Terry recently joined Dave O to talk about how he got his funky delivery, playing with the ’86 Mets, the trade that brought him to KC, potentially saving the lives of a young married couple in KC, pitching in the World Series for the ’91 Twins and much more! (Photo Courtesy Kansas City Royals)