Oddly, Mike Sweeney says he had a beer in hand when he got called up by the Royals
Mike Sweeney’s reputation for avoiding alcohol was well known in Kansas City, so it’s a little surprising to learn he was holding a cold one when got the call to the majors.
Spoiler alert: Sweeney didn’t take a drink that night.
But he revealed the circumstances behind his call to the Royals in 1995 on “Major League Beginnings,” a podcast started by former sports agent Barry Axelrod, broadcaster Mike Pomeranz and ex-big leaguer Mark Sweeney.
They talk with former MLB players about the start of their careers and a recent guest was Sweeney, the Royals Hall of Famer.
Sweeney got the call to the majors in September of 1995 where he was playing in the postseason with Class A-advanced Wilmington.
“When you’re in high-A ball, the big leagues is like over on Saturn or Mars, it doesn’t seem like it’s anything attainable,” Sweeney said in the podcast. “All we wanted to do was win a championship, so we go out, we take our division, the Southern Division, and we’re going into the finals.
“We’re facing Bartolo Colon and the Indians’ young crop of stars, Richie Sexson and these guys. I get a walk-off base hit in the 10th inning.”
Sweeney was riding high and celebrated with a hamburger and fries when he got word that he was urgently needed back at the stadium.
After rushing there, Sweeney ran into manager John Mizerock’s office. On the desk, Sweeney recalled, was a can of Copenhagen tobacco, a pouch of Levi Garrett tobacco, a cup of coffee, and a shirtless Mizerock was smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of beer from a keg in the corner of his office.
“I was thinking, ‘Man, breakfast of champions for minor league managers,” Sweeney said with a laugh on the podcast.
Mizerock told Sweeney to drink a beer, which Sweeney declined. Mizerock insisted.
“I pump the keg, get a red Dixie cup ... and say, ‘Rock, what have you got? Is grandma sick? Is it family? What’s the emergency?’”
Mizerock then told Sweeney he was going to the Royals and would play in a doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Sweeney said he later heard that the Royals wanted to call up Sal Fasano but couldn’t reach him. So Sweeney got the call.
Getting to Kauffman Stadium on short notice wasn’t easy.
“Literally I got a pouch given to me from my manager in Wilmington, Delaware, who said, ‘Here’s your plane ticket, when you land in Kansas City tomorrow there should be a red phone on the side of the wall, pick up the phone, a van will pick you up and drive you to the stadium,” Sweeney said.
“I literally got on a shuttle van with 20 other people going to the Drury Inn and who knows where else? Worlds of Fun? I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a game in an hour.” Literally, they dropped me off and I’ve got my suitcase and a duffel bag full of my catcher’s gear and I walk up to the guy guarding the door and he goes, ‘Can I help you?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, I need to get down to the clubhouse.’ He said, ‘Do you have a ticket?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t have a ticket. I’m a player!’ I probably looked like the paperboy. I had a baby face and a Royals duffel bag from Wilmington, Delaware, and a Samsonite bag like Lloyd Christmas and I’m walking into Kauffman Stadium and they’re going, ‘Well, what are you doing here?’
“So the first time I ever stepped foot in the clubhouse was my big-league call-up, so it was a great day.”
It’s a fun conversation and you can listen to it here.
