| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
“I walked the Plaza, I was lost,” he says.
“I said, ‘I used to spend a lot of time down here, too. For me to be lost down here, this is strange.’ ”
Hurdle arrived in Kansas City in 1977 as the franchise’s superstud prospect — he was Alex Gordon before Alex Gordon — and made the cover of Sports Illustrated the next spring under the headline “THIS YEAR’S PHENOM.”
He went five for 12 in the 1980 World Series but mostly fell short of the wild expectations, finally being traded in 1981.
Monday was the first time he’d ever been in the visitors clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, and he said seeing the real grass “threw me for a loop.”
This was not a nostalgic trip down memory lane, though. He said there were no “warm fuzzies” or “alienation,” just a lot of saying hello and checking out the changes.
“I’ll tell you a funny story,” he says.
“I wasn’t going to tell you this story, but this is funny and it’s perfect for me because this is basically my life.”
Hurdle and his wife walked into Plaza III — one of the few places he recognized from ’81 — and were told it was closed.
They said fine, and walked around the corner to another restaurant.
It was a good dinner, all is well, and they’re headed back to the hotel when they walk back by Plaza III and see a big group of Rockies players eating dinner.
“Yeah,” Hurdle says, “they were closed when I went in to eat dinner.”
So they remembered you?
“Obviously,” Hurdle says, laughing.
“I thought that was pretty appropriate. True story. Ask my wife. She was there. She was laughing, like, ‘Yeah, they’re not open.’ ”
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.