Can Nice Guys Finish First?

The all-for-one Royals try again to win the pennant

The winters are not longer in Kansas City than anywhere else, they just seem that way. For when the snow flies, there is too much time to reflect on the annual sadness of autumn, the fact that the Royals have again lost the American League pennant in the playoffs. Two images linger in the mind: Yankee Chris Chambliss hitting the home run in 1976 that beat the Royals in the final inning of the final game, and, in 1977, Royals' Shortstop Fred Patek openly and unashamedly weeping while he sat alone on the bench after another final-game loss to the Yankees. Wait until next year, the Royals' fans kept muttering, in the classic fashion of losers, and now next year begins this week when Kansas City once again gets its chance to win the American League pennant and, at long last, bask in the glory of the World Series.

One promising omen is that Kansas City will open the series with the survivor of the Yankees-Red Sox slugout at Royals Stadium, where they have won 55 games and lost only 24. The field is richly carpeted with Tartan Turf. On this artificial greensward, ground balls that would be easy outs elsewhere rocket past chagrined infielders. The Royals play their rug like so many home-town pool sharks fleecing visiting marks from the big city. Says Designated Hitter Hal McRae: "In this park, we don't drop a big bomb on people, we just run them all over the place."

The Royals lead the league in doubles, triples and stolen bases and are also accomplished practitioners of the ancient and oft neglected art of the hit and run. They had better be. Manager Whitey Herzog last week contemplated a starting lineup without a full-time .300 hitter and with no one who had driven in 100 runs. He confessed: "We've got to run. If we don't run, we don't win."

Oddly enough, for a team that is long on speed and short on muscle, the Royals can drop and kick the ball with the worst of them. By last week, the butterfingered Royals had committed 145 errors and ranked next to last in the league in fielding. Still, the Kansas City defense was strongest where it was the most important: on the pitching mound. The Royals have a trio of aces on their staff: Righthander Dennis Leonard (21-17), Lefthander Paul Splittorff (19-13), and then there is Larry Gura; the southpaw whom Manager Billy Martin dismissed from the Yankees in 1976 as a "loser." Joining the Royals, Gura ate a lot, took up weight training and boosted his heft from 170 to 188 Ibs. Nowadays, with a record of 16-4, he does not fade in the late innings. "I'll be ready," he promises.

If he or the others do collapse, the Royals' professional hot dog waits in the bullpen: Al Hrabosky, known as the "Mad Hungarian," who is fond of stepping theatrically off the back of the mound to huff and puff himself up to what he deems his "rage point." So far this year, the enraged Hrabosky has saved 20 games that were slipping away.

Still, the strongest point of the Royals --stronger even than their speed and their pitching--is the simple fact that they are a team. They get along together, play well together, hang around together. In an era of temper tantrums, when the fights in the dressing room are often more interesting than the action on the field, the most disruptive event that occurred on the Royals all year long was Shortstop Patek's missing part of a West Coast road trip. He claimed he was hurt, but a few players suggested he was a hypochondriac. Big deal. With such a mild-mannered crew to boss, Manager Herzog gives his players free rein and has found it necessary to call only one meeting all year long, which must be a league record.

Going into the playoffs, the Royals were producing their best baseball of the season. Swinging free, Amos Otis, who passes as the team's slugger, by last week was hitting .299 and had driven in 95 runs. Says he: "I see which way the flag is blowing and swing accordingly. If it's not blowing, I bunt."

As the days grew shorter and cooler, George Brett--one of the most intensely competitive men on the team--was moving his average up to .295 and playing alertly at third base, where he is one of the best in baseball. He was ready too. "People think we're chokers," he said. "Now is our chance to show them." The fans in Kansas City are waiting--once again.

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