Greg: Hi it's Greg Pryor in Overton Park, Kansas.
It's July 25th, 2012 and I'm inviting you into my den to tell this story that happened
in 1986 when I was playing for the Kansas City Royals on a very hot sunny day game with
the Chicago White Sox.
Before I tell my story I'd like to tell you a little bit about how I got to Kansas City
and a little bit about replacing guys like George Brett and Frank White in the lineup
to set this story up.
It's one of the more fun stories I had when I played with the Royals.
In 1978 and 1981 I played for the Chicago White Sox and I really didn't like the Kansas
City Royals that much because they'd always beat us and I didn't like them.
I didn't talk to them when I got on base.
In fact I didn't start meeting any of them until I got traded to Kansas City in 1982.
Here I go from the Chicago White Sox a team that had never won a division for a long time
to the Kansas City Royals who had won a lot of games in the late 70s and early 80s.
I get traded to them and I got to play with George Brett and Frank White.
I got to know them very well.
Obviously they made me a better ball player and hopefully I made them a better ball player.
On this day game in 1986 it was my fifth season in Kansas City.
I'm sitting on the bench with George Brett, it's the fourth inning, and he looked at me
and he goes, "Hey, do you have a bat that feels good?"
Mind you, now here's George Brett, who got the third highest number of votes to get in
the Hall of Fame in history asking me, look at my baseball card it's not as good as his
is, to use my bat.
I was embarrassed because the bat I was using at the time I had stolen out of Frank White's
locker and as you see if you get the close up here you can see Frank White's name over
here.
I borrowed Frank's bat and didn't even ask him because he lockered next me.
When I was bored I would look at his bats and I found this one and it felt really good
so I put tape on the handle and I told George, I said, "George I'm using a Frank White model.
It's got tape on the handle down in the bat rack."
George is down there and he steps out on the on deck circle and he's got the ring, you
could even see the circle here where he had the ring on.
He's swinging this dark bat and George Brett never had used a dark bat.
It was funny that I was the only one in the stadium other than George that knew he was
going to use my bat which was really Frank White's bat.
George gets up to home plate and he gets a base hit.
I didn't know what was going on, they stopped the game and George was waving to the fans.
I looked up on the score board and George had used this bat to get his 2,000th hit.
After the game the bat was in the ... which we won, it was a 17 inning game and I actually
got in the game, late in the game I got two hits later in the game.
George had gone into the game hitting in the 230s so I know he was trying to find anything
that would give him a hit.
After the game the bat which George broke was in the garbage can.
I'm walking up to the clubhouse and I looked in the garbage can and I saw the bat and I
grabbed it.
I ran up to his locker and I said, "George this is your 2,000th hit bat.
You can't throw this away."
He says, "Oh that bat.
I can't believe I used that bat.
It's a crappy bat."
He says, "I broke it anyway."
I said, "Well sign it to me."
Right here George Brett right in front of his locker in, at the time, Royal Stadium
put 2,000th hit George Brett on the bat and I've had it ever since.
I'm still proud to have it.
I don't know if I'll ever part with it, but it's a nice memento even though I'm sorry
Frank, if you're watching this, that I stole your bat.
George, thanks for using my bat, it's been a great part of my life.
Now I can say I been in Disco Demolition at Kaminski Park.
I played in the Pine Tar game and I loaned George Brett a bat that he got his 2,000th
hit with and I'm really proud of it.
Thanks for joining me.
Hey check back on other YouTube's I'm going to share stories about my career.
I'll share the story about the Pine Tar game in Yankee Stadium and also Disco Demolition
in Kaminski Park when the fans caused the game to be forfeited to the Tigers because
of fan violence.
You're going to love those stories.
Again also I want you to go to sports-aholic.com and check out our website there.
We're on Facebook, sports-aholic.com and even go to life priority, l-i-f-e p-r-i-o-r-i-t-y,
lifepriority.com for the best health supplements in the whole world and check my Facebook out
with Greg Pryor and you'll love that too.