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M-Club Messenger Online Exclusive
By Dr. Sharon Ocker
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| Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Royals. |
One thing that outsiders would not know about Paul Splittorff 1969 is that he was a lot of fun in the dugout, in the dressing room, when traveling, etc. He was low key, but loved to needle a bit here and there, had a wry sense of humor, and loved to tell stories. Sometimes he would set up a couple of players to get them stirred up in conversation. One time, he shouted at an umpire from the dugout and six players were ejected. Paul slyly escaped that one.
Friends and teammates made tributes to Paul Splittorff in a special one-hour program in his honor that was televised on Fox Kansas City shortly after his untimely death on May 25.
“When he was on the mound, you knew you had a chance to win. When you hear about Splitt’s career, you won’t hear the words talented, flashy or great. You hear the word winner,” said Frank White, Royals second baseman and television announcer.
"He was more of an artist than he was a pitcher,” said George Brett, Royals third baseman.
Several writers paid respect to Paul. Included was one by Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated. Here are some comments from that article:
"He twice beat the Yankees in the playoffs, enough to be called a “Yankee Killer” for a time (though, as he would say, he had a losing record against the Yankees) ... He struck out Reggie Jackson 23 times ... Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline, Henry Aaron, Billy Williams and Frank Robinson hit a combined .146 against him.”
“His fastball did not go very fast. He struck out only 3.7 batters per nine innings over his career. Since World War II, only Lew Burdette and Bob Forsch won more games than Splittorff while striking out so few.”
"There’s something about an athlete dying that hits us in a slightly different way. I think it’s because athletes, at their best, embody youth and energy and enthusiasm – those things that are the very opposite of death. The people who watched Splitt pitch will remember that today. The people who listened to Splitt call games all those years will remember the sports moments. Beyond that, maybe we will remember being younger ourselves. And though Splitt did not often look back, I think he would like that.”
Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star wrote, “Upon his retirement in 1984, Splittorff referred to himself as more of a Clydesdale than a thoroughbred, a workhorse type of pitcher who relied on guile and instinct more than overpowering stuff.”
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| Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Royals. |
There was also an article in The Atlantic, written by Hampton Stevens:
"He was funny, but shied away from long stories, especially about himself. He was more prone to quip, as in a 1983 Sports Illustrated article, when he said of a George Brett homer, ‘Anything that goes that far in the air ought to have a stewardess on it’ – a line that later showed up in Bull Durham. His humor was bone-dry. It was a blink-and-you’ll miss it deadpan, like the sly farmer with a gleam in his eye who somehow challenges you to see through a hayseed exterior to the wise man underneath.
“He famously got mad, at least as mad as fans ever heard him, during a horrible loss to Texas a few years back. TV cameras caught some of the Royals’ players laughing in the dugout. Split was hot and said so. On the air. Lots. He wasn’t scolding the players, exactly. He was just angry, almost offended, that any ballplayer could be so cavalier about losing. That was just how he saw the game. And the world. A guy might hit the world’s easiest two-hop grounder to the world’s best shortstop, but he was still supposed to run as hard as he could to first base. Always. Every time…In both of his long, successful careers, on the diamond and in the broadcast booth, Paul Splittorff always ran hard. Now, gone too soon at 64, he doesn’t have to run anymore.”
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