“In 14 seasons between 1999 and 2012,” writes MLB.com’s Richard Justice, “the Royals lost 90 or more games 11 times.” Despite this record of futility, Justice has ample praise for Royals owner/former Wal-Mart chief executive David Glass and GM Dayton Moore, crediting the former with allowing the latter’s homegrown talent to fully mature (while spending relatively little in the process). It’s a pretty glowing assessment of the Royals organization (“every franchise hoping to turn this kind of corner could learn from how Glass and his staff have done things”) and if you pretty much ignore how K.C.’s rebuild took more than twice as long as that of the Mets, it’s hard to argue with. Especially because arguing can cost you press credentials at Kaufman Stadium. From ESPN.com, June 10, 2006 :
Two reporters who asked contentious questions at a news conference introducing Dayton Moore as Royals general manager had their credentials revoked Friday.
Bob Fescoe of WHB and Rhonda Moss of KCSP, competing sports-talk radio stations in Kansas City, said they were informed by public relations director Aaron Babcock that their credentials were taken away.
“David Witty, the Royals vice president for communications and marketing, said the credentials were withdrawn for the remainder of the season. He declined further comment when reached by The Associated Press.
“All I can say is their credentials were revoked. That’s all I will say,” Witty told the AP.
At the news conference Thursday, the two grilled owner David Glass on the way he handled the dismissal of former general manager Allard Baird.
Glass appeared to become irritated and told Moss at one point that her assessment of the situation was “completely wrong.”
Moss has covered the Royals for KCSP for almost three years. Also during the news conference, she appeared to rankle Dan Glass, the team president and owner’s son, when she asked him what his role was in running the baseball operations.