MLB

Royals success brings Brett back to old rivalry with Yankees

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The most familiar face in the Royals’ dugout during Wednesday’s workout was someone who hasn’t played for them since 1993.

And it would be hard to find anyone more excited about the team’s current success than their Hall-of-Fame former third baseman, George Brett.

Nevertheless, for as thrilled as he and Royals fans are as they head into the ALDS against the Angels, it’s not quite the same as when he was in his prime and playing in The Bronx seemingly every October.

“I hated the [expletive] Yankees and the Yankees hated the [expletive] Royals,” Brett said at Angel Stadium. “That’s it. They beat us in ’76, ’77 and ’78 we beat them in ’80.”

That was still too much for George Steinbrenner, who told Brett years later at a dinner party that he didn’t want to look at his old nemesis.

“I said ‘What’s wrong?’ ” Brett recalled Wednesday. “He says ‘You beat us too many times.’ I said ‘George, let’s count them up. You won in ’76, ’77, ’78. We won in ’80. That’s one out of four. He said that’s one [expletive] too many.”

Perhaps Kansas City’s win over the A’s in Tuesday’s thrilling wild-card game will prove to be a sign of good things to come for Brett’s old team after not seeing the playoffs for nearly three decades.

“We really don’t have a rivalry with the Yankees anymore,” said Brett, the Royals’ vice president for baseball operations. “We don’t have a rivalry with anybody. Maybe Detroit. We scared them a little bit last year and this year we gave them a really good scare. Hopefully next year, we’ll scare the [expletive] out of them. It’s hard to have a rivalry when you’re not winning.”

Considering the makeup of the roster general manager Dayton Moore put together and manager Ned Yost’s … interesting managerial decisions, the current team resembles some of Brett’s squads, with not much power and a lot of speed.

George Brett’s Royals beat the Yankees in the 1980 playoffs and went on to win the World Series.Bettman/CORBIS

“I think what Dayton’s done is make us a very athletic team with good speed up the middle,” Brett said. “We had Willie Wilson, U.L. Washington. Frank White could steal bases. That’s the style of baseball we played. We weren’t home-run hitting teams. We play in the biggest ballpark in the American League. Maybe if we played in Baltimore or some of those bandboxes, we might not be last [in homers].”

There’s no doubt Brett is enjoying this ride with the Royals, chatting about the old days as much as new stars such as James Shields and Alex Gordon.

The 61-year-old still refers to the Angels as “California” and seems to have the same intensity he was famous for on the field.

“[Tuesday], a one-game playoff, being down four runs against [Oakland starter] Jon Lester, you figure the game’s over,” Brett said of the 12-inning comeback win. “As a fan sitting in the stands, as an employee of the organization since 1971, you’re just so … nervous because you have no control. I’m more nervous than when I was playing.”

Naturally, he was pleased with the outcome — and not just for the team.

“The amazing thing about that game, I think it [lasted] 4:45,” Brett said. “Nobody left that [expletive] stadium. On a school night. It was a great night for Kansas City.”

And it has Brett dreaming big.

“I don’t think teams want to play us,” Brett said. “We’ve got good pitching and an unbelievable bullpen. … And I think it showed last night our team speed is incredible.”