Podcast on 1977 Royals recalls Kissing Bandit, Mr. K’s generosity, epic winning streak
The Royals won their first American League West division title in 1976 and came achingly close to advancing to the World Series.
But the Yankees won Game 5 of the best-of-five series on a Chris Chambliss home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
So expectations were high for the Royals heading into the 1977 season. But as the calendar turned to July, the Royals were in third place and were just three games above .500.
In July, owner Ewing Kauffman visited the team in the clubhouse. As he recalled in Christopher Russo’s podcast, “Digging Up The Past,” Royals Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Leonard braced for a rebuke from Mr. K.
Kauffman did light a fire under the team, but with an act of kindness.
“He really never came into the clubhouse to talk to us,” Leonard told Russo. “He might come and visit but at the All-Star break he came in there and had the whole team together. And basically we thought we’re going to get chewed out for not being quote up to the potential that we should be playing.
“But what he did, he gave everybody like $250 to $300 to say forget about the first half. Go out and take your wife out have a nice dinner on me and, that kind of spurred us on a little bit. Instead of getting chewed out we were being more encouraged to go out and do well. And when we got back from the All-Star break, you know, things just started to go and go and go.”
It didn’t happen right away. The Royals played a four-game series against the division-leading White Sox to close out July, and Chicago won three games.
Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett recalled the White Sox played Steam’s “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” as they pushed the Royals to 5 1/2 games out of first.
“It was just a crazy, crazy series there,” Brett told Russo. “About a week or 10 days later, they came to Kansas City for three games and we Na Na Na’d them out of town. We swept them three straight, and I think that’s when we caught our stride. ... We were really, really, really good the last two months.”
Brett may be underselling it.
The Royals had a 64-51 record after games on Aug. 16. They were only 2 games out of first but were in fourth place in a jumbled division race. The Royals then won 10 straight games.
Shortly after that ended, the Royals won 16 in a row. After that streak was snapped, they ripped off another eight-game winning streak. That pushed the Royals record to 99-55, meaning they had a 35-4 stretch, one of the best in baseball history.
Unfortunately, the Royals lost to the Yankees again in the postseason, again in five games, this time after failing to win one of the final two games at home. The Yankees scored three times in the ninth inning and won 5-3 in the final game.
Shortstop Freddie Patek grounded into a double play to end the game. Afterward, Patek sat in a nearly empty Royals dugout with his head down. A photographer captured the scene.
“That’s the picture I remember about the whole series,” Brett said. “That just shows you how devastated we were when we lost to the Yankees that year.”
“You talk about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” Brett added, “that’s the agony of defeat right there.”
The Kissing Bandit
On a lighter note, Brett also recalled his first, ah, meeting with Morganna Cottrell, who is known to sports fans by her nickname The Kissing Bandit. During the 1970s and ‘80s, Morganna would interrupt a game to smooch a player.
That included Brett, who was one of the few to get his revenge on Morganna.
“All of a sudden I heard a commotion as I’m stepping into the batter’s box and I see this gal running toward home plate. ... And she came up and gave me a kiss at home plate and then she did it again in the All-Star Game in Seattle, she came and got me again,” Brett recalled.
“I think the next night (in ‘77) we got rained out. I found out where she was dancing. And so I went there and I talked to the bouncer at the place, and I said ‘Hey, Morganna came up and kissed me last night in front of 35,000 people. I wanted to run up on stage and kiss her tonight.’ It was a surprise to her when I did it and we’ve been best friends ever since and I get Christmas cards from her and her family. It was something special.”
You can listen to the podcast about the 1977 Royals here.
If you have never seen Morganna, this is from the 1980 All-Star Game:
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 12:52 PM.
