Welcome to this edition of the Royals Beat newsletter. Kansas City-based MLB.com reporter/producer Jackson Stone filled in for Anne Rogers for this newsletter. KANSAS CITY -- Nearly 40 years ago, the Royals won their first World Series. It took another 30 years for Kansas City to earn its next championship. But now, members from both legendary teams will gather at Kauffman Stadium for the anniversary celebrations on Friday and Saturday during the weekend series against the Cardinals. And sitting in the Royals’ radio booth pregame for both ceremonies will be Royals Hall of Fame broadcaster Denny Matthews, who was not only on the call for the Royals’ inaugural season in 1969, but he had a front-row seat to those World Series titles in 1985 and 2015. As the Royals prepare to celebrate two teams that inspired completely different generations of fans in the region, let’s take a trip down memory lane with someone who has watched all 57 seasons, and counting, of Royals baseball: |
Infamous Game 6 There’s no better place to start than Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. After losing to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series in 1976, ‘77 and ‘78 before falling in six games to the Phillies in the 1980 Fall Classic, the Royals were once again three outs from elimination. Trailing, 1-0, in the ninth inning, Jorge Orta hit a squibber to the right side, but Cardinals closer Todd Worrell got to the bag for a 3-1 putout -- or so he thought. First-base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, and the rest was history. “Safe at first. The Cardinals are screaming,” Matthews said during the 1985 broadcast. Four batters later, Dane Iorg hit a walk-off single, sending the series to a Game 7. “Well, it [the call] had a lingering effect, I’ll put it that way,” Matthews said. “... The Cardinals imploded after that. They had a chance to get out of the ninth inning and didn’t. And then the next night, they were a mess. “If [Denkinger] makes the call … I felt it, so I’m sure they felt it [the impact]. But that’s baseball. Weird things happen. That’s why we come out and watch.” |
In Game 7, Bret Saberhagen pitched a shutout behind the big bats of Willie Wilson and George Brett. Kansas City had an 11-run lead by the fifth inning, making it clear there were just a few outs to go until the Royals’ first World Series title -- so Matthews started to count them down. “So now it’s the seventh game, and it’s not a game,” Matthews said. “It’s a blowout. … Everybody knew it. And so I could feel, I could sense, that the whole ballpark, the whole town, the whole region, the whole area, just wanted to celebrate. But now we’re here in the bottom of the fifth inning. We’ve got a long way to go. “There were seven outs to go, and then I counted them on down. And it just seemed like the thing to do because there wasn’t much to report. … So I thought, “Yeah, let’s just count this down and get on with the party.’” And the party was a big one, starting right after Matthews’ “No outs to go” call, and culminating in a large parade downtown to celebrate the first matchup in the now-historic I-70 Series rivalry. “It was just kind of a dream setup with the crosstown rivalry,” Matthews said. “Everybody was either all St. Louis or all Kansas City, and who knows what’s going on in between. [Former Royals and Cardinals manager] Whitey Herzog always said people would ask him who the greatest player was he ever managed, and Whitey always said, "Well, when I’m in Kansas City, I say George Brett. When I’m over in St. Louis, I say, Ozzie Smith. When I was in Columbia [Mo.], I'd say both of them.” |
Royal return to glory That was the last taste of postseason baseball for Kansas City until 2014, when the Royals went all the way to the World Series before falling to the Giants in Game 7. Matthews stuck around for all 29 years in between, watching how the Royals drafted or acquired future legends such as Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar to set up the runs in ‘14 and ‘15. The ‘14 team had a magical run, but the ‘15 club cemented its legendary status with moments such as: |
But Matthews, who has witnessed all of the Royals’ biggest moments, said he’ll never forget Gordon’s heroics in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series. “I’ll always remember … Alex Gordon’s home run against the Mets early in that series,” Matthews said. “That stands out to me as kind of the point where I thought everybody figured out -- connected to the Royals -- that yeah, we’re going to get it done. That kind of confirmed it.” After the Royals won their first World Series title in three decades, the team returned from New York and was greeted to a surreal welcome in Kansas City. How the fans embraced the team still sticks with those inside the organization to this day.
“We get on the buses, and we take this caravan of buses, and every overpass from KCI [Airport] to Kauffman Stadium are fans with banners on the side of the highway,” said broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre, who has worked alongside Matthews since 1999 and had the radio call for the final out of the 2015 World Series. “I don’t know if it really hit us how much we mean to the city and how much we mean to the region until 800,000 people show up.”
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Royals fans -- of all ages -- will have another chance to show their appreciation for the two World Series teams again this weekend. For many, they’ve only witnessed the most recent. But baseball’s history is what makes it special, and the Royals have someone who’s seen it all. “Well, 57 years [of Matthews on the radio] means a father and a son can relate to the same team’s broadcaster,” Lefebvre said. “A grandfather and a grandson can relate to the same team broadcaster. A great-grandfather and a grandson can relate to the same broadcaster. So you don’t have grandfathers telling their grandkids about Denny Matthews. They can sit and listen to Denny Matthews at the same time. “And to think that he’s been here since the very beginning of the franchise. I mean, he’s seen every single player in Royals history. … He’s not just a great resource for the organization, he’s just a great resource for the entire region and our fan base because he can relate things in 2025 to things that happened back in 1969.” And for two days this weekend, those memories will take center stage at Kauffman Stadium. |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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KEEP THE CELEBRATION MOVING |
- Thursday: The Champions Gala kicks off the anniversary weekend at Union Station. Players will be in attendance for dinner and a fundraising event for The Kansas City Royals Foundation. Visit royals.com/championsgala for more information.
- Friday: Fans can join the 1985 World Series celebration with Brett, Wilson, Frank White, Hal McRae, Steve Balboni, Mark Gubicza, Dennis Leonard, Charlie Leibrandt and many others slated to be in attendance at The K. An honorary pregame ceremony and a George Brett & Bret Saberhagen bobblehead will round out the night.
- Saturday: The 2015 team will be honored with a pregame ceremony featuring players such as Gordon, Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, Davis, Escobar, Kelvin Herrera, Ben Zobrist and of course, Perez. The first 25,000 fans will also receive a 2015 World Series replica ring.
- Future dates: The celebration doesn’t stop this weekend. On May 31, Moustakas will return to The K for his retirement ceremony. On June 13 (Gordon), July 11 (Hosmer) and Sept. 19 (Perez), the first 20,000 fans will receive 2015 World Series champion themed bobbleheads. On July 28, the first 15,000 fans will receive a 1985 World Series championship replica jersey.
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