How Abraham Lincoln, C.S. Lewis and David vs. Goliath are buoying Royals’ Dayton Moore
Looming prominently over the left shoulder of Royals general manager Dayton Moore during a Zoom call Tuesday was a graphic rendering of David defeating Goliath. While his wife, Marianne, might prefer it not to be so conspicuous, Moore takes a certain comfort in its presence overlooking him.
“We all have giants in our life that we’re trying to slay, whatever they are,” he said. “And that’s a reminder to me that we can slay the things in our lives that cause us trouble.”
We’ve seen evidence of that prospect unfold here before under Moore’s tenure, when the Royals won back-to-back American League pennants and the 2015 World Series after decades of futility.
And only two months ago, amid a sense of renewed purpose with new ownership (John Sherman) and management (Mike Matheny), that hopeful dynamic was plenty applicable to the state of the franchise seeking an improbable return to contention from two dreadful seasons.
Now, though, it can best be seen as a wishful metaphor for navigating the sickness and death and chaos caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Part of smiting that beast is in the psychological battle we all face while we wait until, when, exactly?
And that’s all the more acute in a world of fewer diversions such as the sports that so often have been soothing distractions in times of uncertainty and anguish.
That’s certainly no different for Moore, who spoke candidly about the range of emotions he’s been experiencing.
A time of fear ... and resolve
Like so many of us, he has known frustration and being challenged to stay positive and feeling “fearful” for so many whose health and jobs are in jeopardy.
Day by day, though, he’s also found his way through various points of reflection and contemplation.
When he was asked for a podcast he’d recorded earlier Tuesday with whom he’d want to go back in time to have dinner, his thoughts turned to Abraham Lincoln and his famous words from an 1858 speech that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.”
“I can only imagine what he was feeling during that time of division,” said Moore.
To him, the words stand as a call to do everything he can to be a unifying force and stay upbeat and rely on others in his life to “speak positive” to him.
That group has included many longtime staff members and Sherman being “rock solid” and Matheny’s approach that includes not complaining once … even when Moore has tried to get him to.
He’s also taken solace in such moments as observing Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier on a Zoom call with minor-leaguers last week.
So dazzled was Moore by what they conveyed that he thought to himself guys like Merrified and Dozier are “why our country is so strong.”
And he’s taken comfort in at least one reading sent to him by Austin Driggers, the Royals’ director of performance science.
During a roughly 40-minute session Tuesday, Moore twice referred to the words Driggers had directed to him from a 1939 sermon by C.S. Lewis titled “Learning In War-Time.”
Perhaps the most succinct and pertinent excerpt (at least to me) was this:
“Do not let your nerves and emotions lead you into thinking your present predicament (is) more abnormal than it really is,” said Lewis, later advocating the points that we are well-served to live moment to moment and “be always aware of our mortality.”
All of which is part of a sustaining perspective for the man who has created so much of that for others through his life.
He’s always appreciated his staff, as anyone with the Royals will tell you at length. But with 218 employees in baseball operations, it isn’t always easy to keep up with everyone he wants to.
Now, what might ordinarily have been some couple-minute catchup chats with some have turned into 15-20 minute talks that make for what he called a healthy reminder of what’s most important.
“Our people,” he said, “have kept me going.”
Meanwhile, he’s been grateful for more meals with his family at home than ever. So much so that he’s even come to realize “in probably a very healthy way” that he can “survive a little bit without baseball, as much as I love the game.”
Relationship builder
So for all the uncertainty, this is clear to Moore and in the grasp of anyone who sees it as an opportunity to invest in:
“I can tell you this without a doubt: The relationships within our organization … and with my family are better than they were a month ago. So that’s a positive.”
As is this real-time lesson in appreciation he figures might be particularly striking for young players but that would seem to be accessible to many others of us.
Around sports, they’re always talking about not taking one day for granted. Trouble is …
“When you’re young, it’s hard to trust in the experience and wisdom of others,” Moore said.
But here we are stranded in the living proof. And with that a clarion call to “cherish the relationships and cherish the good times but cherish the challenges as well,” he said.
That includes the paradox of needing to stay apart now as we navigate how remarkably interconnected we are.
It’s hard to know how that’s going to look in the months, and even years, ahead as we start to resurface and sort out our distances and differences in a post-pandemic world.
When we do emerge, Moore figures Kansas City will be an even more respectful and kind place. If that’s possible, he added, in such a kind and generous community.
But even as he cautions that we need to continue to understand that we’re all vulnerable, he believes that our yearning for “face to face human interaction” ultimately will prevail.
Whether it’s wanting to be back in the office on Monday mornings or back at the ballpark when health officials deem it safe and appropriate to do so.
“That will come again,” he said. “That will happen.”
However blurry getting to that moment of triumph seems right now, the painting over his shoulder says otherwise.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.