Ex-Royals player has funny story of getting lost on 1985 World Series parade route
When the ball settled into his glove on that October night 40 years ago, Darryl Motley knew he’d earned a hefty bonus from his teammates and ended decades of baseball frustration in Kansas City.
Motley caught the final out of the 1985 World Series as the Royals beat the Cardinals in seven games. It ended a 30-year MLB championship drought in Kansas City, dating to when the A’s played at Municipal Stadium.
Ahead of last week’s gala honoring the Royals’ 1985 championship team (and 2015 championship squad), Motley was asked about what that title meant to fans.
“I think it was huge at that time,” Motley said. “I can remember the parade through town. Because we lost the first two games at home, I really don’t think that they expected us to win.
“They weren’t really ready for the parade. It wasn’t blocked off or anything. People could reach out and touch you. We were in old cars. People could reach out and grab you and everything.”
Fortunately for Kansas City sports fans, they have had many more opportunities to attend a championship parade since that one in 1985.
And in that time, the city has made sure fans don’t have instant access to the players. Also — and this is important — the city ensures players don’t get lost while on the parade route.
That actually happened to Motley in 1985.
“My car and Onix Concepcion’s car got separated from the parade,” he recalled. “The parade was gone. It was just two cars, and we were going through town, people everywhere. We came up here, people hanging in the trees and they split for us ... but we were lost. It happened.”
The players were in the back of a convertible so they weren’t driving. Fortunately, the people behind the wheel of those two cars were able to get the players to Liberty Memorial, where a rally was held.
“We ended up at the stage,” Motley recalled, “where they were holding the rally.”
It just took Motley and Concepcion a little longer to get there.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM.
