KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The Royals are still his. The parking spot and sixth-floor office and deference and all the other perks of owning a Major League Baseball team are still his, for two more months. Then, for just the second time since Ewing Kauffman founded the Kansas City Royals more than 50 years ago, the team will change ownership.
David Glass had already become an overwhelming business success as CEO of Walmart long before he bought the Royals 20 seasons ago, but his stewardship of our baseball team is how he will be remembered here in Kansas City.
The record is mixed but ultimately successful, and Glass touched on both ends of that pendulum swing in a wide-ranging, hour-long conversation with The Star.
"I love the Royals," he said. "I love Kansas City. It's really important to me that they get into another World Series."
Those words are as succinct an oversimplification of Glass' state of mind as anything else. He will forever be tied to this team and this city, but it's also time he start calling the Royals "they" and not "we."
Glass decided to sell last offseason, after extensive conversations with his family. It's time, he'll tell you. He says he has no known or immediate health problems, but he's 84 years old. He moves around well, but looks thinner. He says he'll miss the excitement and the involvement in running a big-league team, but repeated the explanation:
It's time.
"I just need to start winding down," he said.
Before he gets to that, he wanted to talk about the last two decades that he has spent in charge of the Royals, a time that included the franchise's lowest moments and the biggest party in Kansas City history after the 2015 World Series.
He talked about his regrets and best memories, the financial obstacles of running a small-market baseball team, why he targeted Kansas City businessman John Sherman as the next owner (refusing to talk with anyone else), the possibility of a downtown ballpark and more. Call it a sort of exit interview.
The only question he wouldn't answer: who's your favorite player you've had here?
"You'd get me in real trouble," he said.
