Hal McRae is 69 years old and retired these days. He lives down in Bradenton, just over the bridge from Tropicana Field. • Just over the bridge from where his office used to be. McRae managed the Devil Rays in 2001 and 2002, so you figure he gets a kick out of seeing the Rays of recent times. They are certainly more fun to watch than the bad old days. • "I don't see many Rays games,'' McRae said. • No? • "Nah, I don't watch much baseball anymore,'' McRae said. • Really? • "I've heard enough national anthems,'' he said, laughing. • McRae played, coached and managed professionally for more than 40 years — or roughly 7,000 times hearing about the land of the free and the home of the brave. • But his interest in baseball has been renewed over the past few weeks and will continue tonight when his Kansas City Royals host Game 1 of the World Series against the San Francisco Giants.
"I will definitely be watching,'' he said. "I watch the Royals now. That's my team.''
McRae played for the Royals from 1973 to 1987 and was on the only Kansas City team to win the World Series, in 1985.
While locals remember McRae taking over for the fired Larry Rothschild early in the 2001 season and managing the Devil Rays to a 113-196 record over two seasons, most baseball fans recall how McRae was one of the best hitters in the game while playing for the Royals.
After coming up with the Reds in 1968, McRae, from Avon Park, was traded to the Royals in late 1972. Over the next 15 seasons, McRae hit .297 or better nine times. Twice he led the American League in doubles. In 1982, he batted .308 with 27 homers and a league-best 133 RBIs. He finished fourth in the MVP voting and established himself among the best DH's of his era.
During that time, along with George Brett, McRae helped the Royals become one of baseball's best teams, making the postseason seven times from 1976-85.
Oddly enough, the best moment of McRae's career was not when the Royals won the World Series.
"The highlight of my career was when we made the playoffs for the first time in 1976,'' he said. "We had a good team the year before, but couldn't beat the Oakland A's in the division. When we finally learned how to win, we made the playoffs and that was the best moment. But we had to learn how to win first.''
That's sort of what this year's Royals team had to do. Last season, the Royals won 86 games, their most in 24 years. It was their first winning record in 10 seasons. But they fell just short of the playoffs.
This season, the Royals stumbled around for a few months but went on 20-5 tear midway through the season and earned a wild-card berth. In the wild-card game, the Royals fell behind 7-3 to the A's but rallied for a 9-8 extra-innings win. They then swept the Angels in three games and the Orioles in four to run their postseason record to 8-0.
"This is a very exciting team to watch,'' McRae said. "They pitch. Play great defense. Manufacture runs. They steal bases. They play smart. They are exciting.''
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Explore all your optionsKind of like the 1985 Royals.
"Yep,'' McRae said, "kind of like the 1985 Royals.''
Back in 1985, the Royals could hit and run and play defense. And they had outstanding pitching with Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen winning 20 games. The big difference was that this year's Royals hit an American League-low 95 homers, while the 1985 Royals hit 154 with McRae, who wasn't really a power guy, bopping 14.
The only disappointing part of the '85 season for McRae was that he barely played in the World Series.
"I played the last month or so with a pulled muscle in my rib cage,'' McRae said. "I was in so much pain that I couldn't start. A part of me was happy to not play. That's how much it hurt.''
McRae appeared in three games, pinch-hitting three times with a walk and a hit by pitch. The series is best remembered for umpire Don Denkinger blowing a call at first base that helped the Royals win Game 6. The Royals then crushed the Cardinals in Game 7.
"It was great to see how happy we made the fans,'' McRae said. "Kansas City is a great baseball town and you've seen that here the past couple of weeks in these playoffs.''
McRae retired from playing after the 1987 season and went on to manage his beloved Royals from 1991-94. He had only one winning season, and his tenure is best known for a post-game outburst in 1993 when he went bonkers and threw a telephone that accidentally hit and cut a reporter's face — an incident that the normally mild-mannered McRae apologized for profusely and was quickly forgiven by the writer.
McRae served those two seasons with Tampa Bay and was replaced by Lou Piniella after the 2002 season. He moved on to be the Cardinals hitting coach for five years before retiring in 2009.
"Now I just hang around,'' McRae said. "I play a lot of golf.''
Is he any good?
"Nah,'' McRae said. "But I enjoy it.''
And for the next week, from the comforts of his living room down in Bradenton, he'll enjoy his Royals, hoping they will do something they haven't done since he was a player.
"I'm hoping,'' McRae said, "I'm hoping.''