Former Royals owner David Glass, 84, dies just months after selling franchise
David Glass, who owned the Kansas City Royals for a two decade run that saw the franchise win a World Series championship and reach another, died at the age of 84, the team announced Friday.
Glass died on January 9 of complications associated with pneumonia, according to his family.
The Glass family sold the Royals to longtime Kansas City businessman John Sherman in November, marking the end of an ownership that included periods of both futility and great success for the club. He’ll be remembered by Royals personnel as a fiercely competitive yet kind man with a deep devotion to the region and the game of baseball.
“Like so many Kansas Citians, I am deeply saddened by the news of David’s passing,” Sherman said in a statement. “His voice among other owners was so respected; he served on and led several Major League Baseball committees to better our game. His passion for baseball and love for Kansas City was the driving force in bringing success on the field for this franchise.
“Personally, I will be forever indebted to David for reaching out to offer the generational opportunity to be part of this proud and storied franchise. On behalf of the entire ownership group, I want to express deepest gratitude to the heart of a man who carefully placed a treasure in the hands of Kansas Citians. We pledge to carry it forward with his passionate commitment and selfless spirit.”
Glass decided to sell the team before the 2019 season, after extensive conversations with his family. He told The Star last year he had no known or immediate health problems. Glass specifically sought out Sherman, a former season ticket holder and an individual with deep ties to the Kansas City community, when he decided to sell the franchise.
“I love the Royals,” he said of his decision to sell the team. “I love Kansas City. It’s really important to me that they get into another World Series.”
Glass was born in 1935 in Mountain View, Missouri, and served in the U.S. Army from 1954-56 after graduating high school. He earned a business degree from Missouri State University in Springfield, where Glass Hall is named for him. He became president and CEO of Walmart in 1988 and held that role until purchasing the Royals in 2000.
After Royals founder Ewing Kauffman’s death in 1993, Glass chaired the board to oversee the transition to a new owner as Kauffman wished. In the 1990s, Glass helped assure the team remained in Kansas City amid speculation of possible franchise contraction by Major League Baseball.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore, whom Glass hired in 2006, said the news of Glass’ passing was not expected. Moore said the two spoke on Christmas Day, and he described Glass’ voice as “full of energy.” Glass was heading to Florida to visit family, as has been the family’s tradition in recent years.
In fact, Glass had been making plans to attend Royals’ spring training in Arizona as recently as a week or two ago.
“Our entire organization is full of sorrow and also a lot of pride as we celebrate his life and what he meant to all of us,” Moore said Friday. “We can’t help but reflect back in such a joyful way on how he touched all of our lives, but he’s going to be missed by all of us.
“We’re all just so very proud and grateful to have been able to work with him and his incredible family. He loved this city. He loved our fans. He always felt that his role as a Major League Baseball owner was a very special privilege, and he wanted to be a great steward of the Royals franchise and the game of baseball. His legacy will certainly honor that and represent everything that he accomplished and what he stood for.”
Moore described Glass as kind and humble despite being one of the country’s most successful businessmen. Moore also lauded Glass for insisting employees place their families first regardless of the high-pressure environment of professional sports.
Under Glass’s leadership, Moore modernized the organization’s infrastructure and also brought its international scouting efforts up to par on the way to building the top farm system in baseball in 2011.
“I came to understand that he owned a baseball team for all the right reasons,” Moore said. “… He shared his heart with me. Because he shared his heart with me, it motivated me to want to be a part of his vision.”
Glass often received criticism for the way he navigated the financial hurdles that came with running a small-market club and the club’s long periods of losing records, but he also oversaw the club during the two-year run when they sat atop the baseball world with back-to-back American League pennants and World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015. The 2015 World Series title marked the first for the franchise in three decades.
Retired manager Ned Yost, who led the team during their World Series runs, beamed with pride this summer when discussing the photo in his office of Glass holding the World Series trophy.
“I just wanted to win for him more than anything because he believed in us, even when nobody else would,” Yost said in August. “I’ve always felt that. So when we won the World Series, the happiest time was when he got to hold that trophy right there.”
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred lauded Glass at the annual owners’ meetings in November in Arlington, Texas, calling Glass the “center of our industry.”
In a statement on Friday night, Manfred said, “David Glass was one of our game’s most active and respected owners for more than a quarter of a century. He provided outstanding service to the industry in many ways, including as a member of numerous ownership committees, such as the Executive Council, and as Chairman of the Board of MLB Advanced Media. While providing great leadership for our industry, he also was a tremendous fan of the game. The Royals’ 2015 World Championship was a tribute to his stewardship of the franchise and his passion for baseball in Kansas City.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to his wife Ruth and their three children, including former Royals President Dan Glass.”
Along with the executive council and the advanced media committee, Glass served on the media oversight committee, diversity oversight committee and was a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors in Cooperstown, N.Y.
“On behalf of the staff and Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, we are profoundly saddened by the passing of David Glass,” the board said in a statement. “David was a trusted and valued member of the Board whose commitment to the Hall of Fame was immeasurable. The Hall of Fame family will miss him dearly, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to the Glass family and the Kansas City Royals.”
Glass’ death elicited responses from the business, sports and Kansas City community.
Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a release, “Due to his authentic humility, we think David Glass may be the most under-appreciated CEO in the history of business. The choices he made and the results of the company reflect his wisdom, dedication and servant leadership. We will miss him immensely and are eternally grateful.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas posted a Twitter message Friday afternoon that read, “I read this news with a heavy heart. You’ll hear much about his accomplishments, but I’ll remember his kindness and decency. In a world of big egos, he was as down to earth and genuine as they come. I’ll miss him. Kansas City will miss him. My thoughts are with his loved ones.”
Jackson County Executive and Royals Hall of Famer Frank White said: “My wife, Teresa, and I are deeply saddened to hear the news of Mr. David Glass’ passing. We have a great deal of respect and admiration for Mr. Glass, a true baseball fan and family man who loved his wife and children. He cared deeply about this community and we are grateful that his final gift to us was ensuring that the Royals remained in Kansas City. He will be greatly missed, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Glass family during this difficult time.”
The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to host Sunday’s AFC Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium, which shares a complex with the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium, but Chiefs owner Clark Hunt issued a statement offering his condolences to the Glass family.
“David was an incredibly kind man with a huge heart for Kansas City sports,” Hunt said. “He was a supportive partner and a gracious host who welcomed us to Kauffman Stadium many times over the years. I will always remember his poignant and thoughtful invitation to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day the season following my father’s passing. Our family and the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to the Glass family and the Kansas City Royals.”
Glass and his wife, Ruth, have three children, Dan, Don and Dayna Martz; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Glass’ wife and three children served on the Royals board of directors until he sold the team. Dan also served as team president during the family’s ownership.
The Glass family will hold a public celebration of life at 1 p.m. Jan. 27 in Rogers, Arkansas at the Northwest Arkansas Fellowship Bible Church, 1051 W. Pleasant Grove Road.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 3:50 PM.
