Glenn Ezell, a Royals coach for six seasons under two managers, dies at age 76
The 1991 Royals had a dreadful start, winning nine of their first 17 games when Glenn Ezell decided to light a fire under the players.
Ezell read a story in a Detroit newspaper after the Royals were swept in a two-game series in the Motor City.
As a Kansas City Star story noted, this passage from the Detroit paper stood out to Ezell: “This was a rally that landed in the Tigers’ lap — as if the Royals were saying, ‘Go ahead, beat us. Everybody else does.’“
Ezell suggested manager John Wathan post the story in the Royals clubhouse in Milwaukee. The players got a good look at what was being said about them and went out and swept the Brewers in a three-game series.
“The idea wasn’t to humiliate anybody,” Ezell told The Star at the time, “but just make everyone aware of how we need to be going about our business. That’s what it was all about.”
The turnaround didn’t last long, so Wathan was fired a few weeks later and Hal McRae was hired.
Ezell, who died last week, remained on McRae’s staff and was promoted from bullpen coach to a bench coach.
The Arizona Daily Star reported Ezell’s death, but did not give a cause. He was 76.
Ezell was a standout high school baseball and basketball player in Tucson, the Daily Star said. He started his professional baseball career in 1966 and raised to the Mets’ Triple-A level in 1969, then joined the Twins organization the following year at the Double-A level.
But Ezell, a catcher, never got the call to the majors.
From 1971-74, Ezell was at Triple-A with the Twins and Giants before becoming a minor-league manager at the age of 30. He was briefly a player-manager for the Padres’ Class A team in 1977.
In 1988, Ezell managed the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate to an 81-61 record and a first-place finish in the American Association’s Western Division. The following year he joined Wathan’s staff and then worked under McRae through the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Ezell also coached with the Texas Rangers (1983–85), Detroit Tigers (1996) and Tampa Bay Rays (2001–02).
“(Ezell) is the type of guy who can do many things,” McRae told The Star in 1991. “What impressed me was his knowledge of the game. He’s capable of handling many responsibilities and he seems to have a great rapport with the players.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 9:45 AM.
