By David Driver
More than a few eyebrows were raised late in the 2009 Major League Baseball season, when the Kansas City Royals extended the contract of general manager Dayton Moore through the 2014 season.
The Royals had posted a record of 75-87 in 2008 and were on their way to losing 97 games the following season. Even a modest of improvement to 67-95 in 2010 didn't stop those who wondered if Moore, a former player at George Mason who had joined the Royals in 2006, was the right person for the job.
But thanks to a lot of patience, and vision, by Moore and his staff, Kansas City ownership and their fans have been rewarded. The Royals, after losing in Game 7 of the World Series last year, captured their first championship in 30 years on Nov. 1 when they staged another late-inning comeback to beat the New York Mets 7-2 and take the Fall Classic in five games.
“It's an incredible group of guys,” Moore, who later got another contract extension, told a national television audience and his team as the Royals accepted the World Series trophy in the early morning hours of Nov. 2 at Citi Field in New York. “We are proud of you. We love you.”
Moore, who grew up in Kansas a fan of the Royals, went from being an infielder at George Mason to an executive who helped reverse years of losing baseball with the Midwest franchise.
“Dayton is a visionary and he had always stated that we going to be successful here if we trusted our process and stayed true to it and didn't deviate,” according to Scott Sharp, Assistant General Manager/Baseball Operations, for the Royals. “He has resolute in his belief we were going to be a playoff team in 2014 and beyond and he has said that ever since I have been here.”
Mike Toomey, a long-time scout who grew up in Hyattsville, Maryland, has been a special assistant to Moore since 2006. Toomey was with the San Francisco Giants when he scouted Moore as a player at Mason.
“Dayton is the same person now as he was back then,” Toomey said in a telephone interview from New York during the World Series. “You have to appreciate the way he played the game. He made all of the plays. I had predicted he would be a general manager. It comes as no surprise to me.”
“He is one of the greatest human beings I have been around,” added Toomey, a former scout for the Mets and Nationals, among others. “He always been a great teacher. He has hired good people and let them do their jobs.”
Sharp, who joined the Royals prior to the 2007 season, grew up in Maryland as a fan of the Baltimore Orioles. He was a catcher at George Washington University and in the minor leagues with the Cincinnati Reds from 1994-97 and has worked closely with Moore.
“He knew it was going to take time to develop from within and it needed to start with the building blocks of (Alex) Gordon, (Luke) Hochevar, and (Billy) Butler,” noted Sharp, who pointed out the Royals have improved their record each of the past seven seasons. “He knew it would take time because we would need to add high picks and develop them and had to start internationally from ground zero. His leadership and vision are both clear and decisive. He allows us the freedom to work within our departments, show leadership and carry out his vision.”
But Moore is not the only former George Mason standout who helped lead the Royals to the title.
J.J. Picollo is the Vice President/Assistant GM, Player Personnel; Lonnie Goldberg is the Director of Scouting and Ken Munoz is a scout based in Arizona.
Moore, after playing at a community college in Kansas, played for George Mason in 1988-89 and was an assistant coach from 1990-94. Picollo played for the Patriots in 1993-94 and Goldberg, from George Marshall High in Falls Church, Va., and Munoz played for veteran coach Bill Brown from 1990-93. The four Royals employees were part of NCAA tournament team in Fairfax in 1993.
“J.J. and Lonnie are very similar,” according to Sharp. “I have worked with J.J. more closely and he is very similar to Dayton in many respects: he is fair, has great leadership quality, great respect from staff and players. Lonnie is a tireless worker that goes to great lengths to find and uncover the talent that comes into this organization. He is a great evaluator of both physical talent and the mental make-up required to play in the majors.”
Brown has followed the careers of the former Mason players and the Kansas City staff members have kept tabs on the Patriots. “Certainly we follow what the Patriots are doing,” Picollo told 106.7 The Fan in 2014. “We're very proud of what Billy's done there. He's just done a tremendous job, and I'm proud to be a Patriot.”
And the Patriots are certainly proud of their Royals.
While accepting the World Series trophy with manager Ned Yost and owner David Glass, Moore was told by journalist Erin Andrews of FOX Sports that “he” put together the World Series winner. “We put this” together, noted Moore, giving credit to a staff that includes several former Mason standouts.
Editor's note: Virginia native David Driver is a free-lance writer who has covered college and pro baseball in the region, and the Atlantic 10 Conference, for 20 years. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com
