I knew this day was coming soon, but I kept holding out hope that maybe it wouldn't happen. Well, it did. Mike Sweeney just signed a minor league contract with the Oakland A's and his 17-year career with the Royals is over. He'll play first base and DH for Oakland.
Sweeney handled the fact that the Royals didn't want him back with incredible grace, saying things like, "I became a Royal at age 17 and at age 34, I'm turning the reins over to the next crop of young players. I had the best years of my life in Kansas City." And this, "It'll seem strange seeing the guys with me wearing a different uniform. But it's John Buck, David DeJesus, Mark Teahen, Gil Meche and Alex Gordon now--it's their team now. And I'll be rooting for them to win a championship."
I'll be doing a comprehensive tribute post to Sweeney in the coming week. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Mike was always a class act.
No question...a very class act. The Sweeney Era is now over.
Long live the Sweeney memories. Other than the magical 2000 season, what are some of your favorite memories? I have two.
Between innings during one ball game, a few Royals players were polled with the same question. Their responses were shown on diamond vision. The question was (something like), "Who's the one person that you can't wait to meet?" Affeldt and many other players responded "Jesus Christ". When it was Sweeney's turn, I thought for sure the Lord would be on the top of his list. Sweeney said, with no hesitation, "My future wife!" You never saw so many women rise from their seats in unison and throng to the mirrors in the restrooms. It was after this primping frenzy incident that the concourses were determined to be too small!
The other memory was Sweeney charging the mound and smashing Jeff Weaver into the pitcher's mound. He pounced and rolled over Weaver like a huge log. Two years later (if believe) Weaver helped the Cardinals win the World Series. Sweeney at that time was...maybe on a date.
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