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Dayton Morre is currently a Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations for the 2024 World Series Champion Texas Rangers. He was also GM of The Kansas City Royals from 2006-2021, which included a World Series win in 2015. Rusty and Dayton talk about keeping the faith in a competitive and sometimes thankless industry. Dayton also discusses the disappointment of being fired by his hometown team. Rusty then asks Dayton to give his "Royal Mount Rushmore".
Creators & Guests
What is Simple Faith With Rusty George?
Rusty George is the Lead Pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie. Under his dedicated leadership, Crossroads Christian Church aspires to flourish as a vibrant community committed to guiding individuals in their journey to discover and follow the path of Jesus.
Beyond leading Crossroads Church, Rusty is a global speaker, leader and teacher focusing on making real life simple. Rusty has also written several books and can be heard weekly on his podcast, Leading Simple with Rusty George.
Aside from being a loyal Chiefs, Royals, and Lakers fan, Rusty is first and foremost committed to his family. Rusty has been married to his wife, Lorrie, for over twenty-five years, and they have two daughters, Lindsey and Sidney. As a family, they enjoy walking the dogs, playing board games together, and watching HGTV while Rusty watches ESPN on his iPad.
Hey. I wanna thank Courage to Lead for sponsoring this month's podcast. Courage to Lead is led by a friend of mine and my personal coach, a guy by the name of Sean Lovejoy. He has been a real estate developer, a church planner, megachurch pastor, and now the CEO of a fast growing coaching and consulting organization. Sean's been a guest on the podcast, and I've gotten to know he and several of his coaches that help pastors and business leaders all across the country.
Rusty George:And recently, I was invited to join their team to be one of their coaches. Listen. I've just learned this over time. You can only get so far on your own know how and own intellect, wisdom, experience, and smarts. You need someone that can coach you and help you see the things that you cannot see.
Rusty George:And Sean has done that for me, and their coaches have done that for countless leaders and pastors. And now I'd like to do that for you as well. So if you'd like to inquire about either me being your coach or receiving a coach, contact me at pastor Rusty George dot com, and you can click the link there to find out more information. If you'd like to just go to Courage to Lead to find out more about what they do, you can go to courage to lead.com, a great world class coaching organization helping you build a killer team and grow your organization. I'm so excited to be a part of their organization, and I would love to meet you there.
Rusty George:Thank you to Courage to Lead for all that you do for leaders and all that you've done for me. Following Jesus isn't always easy, but it's not complicated. Join us each week as we work to make faith simple. This is Simple Faith. Hey.
Rusty George:Welcome to Simple Faith. My name is Rusty George. Boy, every now and then you get a guest on here I'm just really, kinda geeking out on because I got so many questions for this guy. This guy was a guy that grew up in Kansas. He's just a little bit older than I am.
Rusty George:He grew up in another part of the state than I did, and he grew up a Kansas City Royals fan. He played baseball for a while, got into the business side of baseball and the managing side of baseball and moved into a an assistant general manager role at the Atlanta Braves. They won a world series there. Then he moved over to the Kansas City Royals to take on his favorite childhood team and mine, the Kansas City Royals, and bring them back to glory. And then after that, he moved on to the Texas Rangers where they won a world series just a few months ago.
Rusty George:Well, Dayton Moore is my guest today, and I wanna just give a quick shout out to Randy Frazee for making the introduction. Grateful for Randy and his friendship and his times on the podcast, and he made this conversation happen with the general manager of the Kansas City Royals when they won the World Series in 2015. Now you might be thinking, well, listen. I don't really listen to, you know, podcasts to hear about baseball. I wanna know about how this impacts my faith.
Rusty George:Well, what do you do when you work in an environment that isn't necessarily a faith environment? It's filled with people chasing money and success and fame. How do you create a culture of character? That's exactly what he did, and it ended up being the best thing that could ever happen to my beloved Kansas City Royals. I know you're gonna love this conversation even if you don't love baseball.
Rusty George:So here it is, my conversation with Dayton Moore. Dayton, thank you so much for joining the program. Hey. For our listeners that may not know you, tell us a little bit about yourself. Give us the, the Wikipedia version of Dayton Moore in 90 seconds.
Dayton Moore:Don't go on Wikipedia. I don't know what they're printing these days. But, no, it's It's all good. Yeah. It's great to be with you and appreciate the opportunity just to really you know, kinda share our journey, our leadership journey, and, you know, some of the mistakes that we've made, some of the things that we've learned, and and some of the things that we're we're looking to do in the future.
Dayton Moore:But, you know, my team's at home. That's my family. Mary Anne is my wife. We've been married 31 years. She's just been unbelievable.
Dayton Moore:Such a great encourager to me, unbelievable support system. And, you know, being a wife whose whose husband's working in baseball and it's it's 247, just to watch how she's managed, you know, her personal life. And and as a mother, just with such grace and class has been a unbelievable inspiration to me. Our 3 children, Ashley, Avery, and Robert, I mean, I can't say how much how proud we are of them. All 3 of them, you know, you know, express their faith.
Dayton Moore:They're proud of their faith. They love Jesus. Ashley's working as a full time missionary in the country of Panama. She also has a nursing degree and she's out doing medical missions, you know, from, from Panama into Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. And Avery, our middle, she got her degree from K State, in family, life and behavioral sciences and took a job working at an assisted living place as a lifestyle coordinator here in Kansas City.
Dayton Moore:Right out of college, did that for a year and decided to take a little bit of a break. And she went into retail and she's loving that. And she's working at a local company called Maiden KC, which they, sell Kansas City, you know, made products obviously. And, she's enjoying that. And, you know, our son's 21, and he's a minor league player, with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dayton Moore:And, I went to University of Arkansas, graduated actually from high school a year early, and attended Arkansas and was there for two and a half years, and was drafted actually by the Brewers in the 2nd round. And, was recently, traded to the Phillies. So, you know, that's our team.
Rusty George:Wow.
Dayton Moore:That's our family.
Rusty George:Well, I know that we're close in age enough that we, we we remember the 1985 World Series vividly. Does it still pain you to talk about the Phillies after that loss or, or not in 85, 1980?
Dayton Moore:80.
Rusty George:Yeah. Yeah. To I met Pete Rose one time, and I said I was still bitter.
Dayton Moore:Yeah. I know. You know, you in baseball, you learn to move on. Yeah. And, certainly had my share of failures and and thankfully those wounds turn into scars and you get a little stronger through the years.
Dayton Moore:But, you know, just being able to grow up in baseball and do something that, you know, I've loved to do since I was a little boy and to be able to provide for your family, you know, doing something that you truly love and enjoy has just been an amazing blessing. And so I try not to complain too much about the, you know, the losses and the frustrations and the challenging times of baseball because you you you you've got to make a decision that if you're going to work in baseball, you're going to have to deal with a lot of the ups and downs. And and so we've we've certainly, you know, tried to do that.
Rusty George:I remember in 1980, that, that world series, that was, I learned a lot about God during that time. Cause I prayed a lot for the Royals to win that world series, and God didn't answer that prayer. So I discovered God might have higher priorities than just my baseball affiliations.
Dayton Moore:I often think that as well. I'm glad he does. Exactly. I hear you. I hear you.
Rusty George:Well, tell us a little bit about your faith journey. When did Jesus become more than a story to you?
Dayton Moore:Well, you know, I would say that, probably when, you know, my father, was battling cancer and then ultimately passed away from cancer in 1991. But, you know, this was my hero. Somebody had never been sick a day in his life, somebody had overcome so much, you know, in his youth, and persevered his whole life, an extremely hard worker, a kind man, a strong man. And then all of a sudden we got word one day that, you know, he had colon cancer and he was 48 years old. And certainly, it was rare at that stage of his life.
Dayton Moore:And, but watching him, battle that with grace and humility and his faith really, you know, came out at that point in time. And, I just really realized for the first time how fragile life is and how it truly is a vapor. And, you know, we we we've got to make sure that, you know, we we give our best effort every single day. We don't wanna look back with any regrets. And, but just watching him, you know, manage through that and then ultimately, you know, he passed away.
Dayton Moore:You know, May 14, 1991, I was with him. He actually I was holding him when he passed away. And, I mean, that was a pretty, pretty powerful moment. But that's really, I think the first time I could really feel the Holy Spirit, you know, in my life. And, from there it's, you know, there's been a lot of different times, throughout my journey that, you know, I, you know, I don't know where I would be with without the presence of the holy spirit.
Rusty George:You know, it's interesting. I have read your your book and I've heard your story. And I've I've talked to a lot of people that have strong faith that are in Major League sports of some sort. And here you are in Major League Baseball. Obviously, there are people in the game that have a strong faith and some that have a faith for namesake only.
Rusty George:But, you know, you're not in ministry so to speak as far as it's not your number one priority when you go to work and so not everybody's fully aligned. How do you because a lot of our listeners, you know, work in some kind of occupation where Listen, it's not really about faith, but they are faithful people in their job. How do you maintain a faith where faith isn't the priority? And how do you walk that line of sharing your faith without, you know, beating people over the head with it? What have you discovered in all your years in the baseball world?
Dayton Moore:Well, that's a great question. And I've made a lot of mistakes in that journey. You know, it's oftentimes you know what to say, but you maybe you say it at the wrong times. Or, you say it at the right time and maybe it just doesn't come out right. Because it's, as we all know, it's very difficult to articulate feelings and emotions.
Dayton Moore:Sometimes it just doesn't come out right or the timing's not perfect. And so, I've made a lot of mistakes in that journey. But, you know, I will say this, that when I started leading departments with the Atlanta Braves when I was 28 years old, and, and I've always studied leadership and I love competitors. And, I've studied coaches and highly successful people. And I've came to one conclusion that the greatest leader in the history of the world is Jesus.
Dayton Moore:And the greatest competitor in the history of the world is Jesus. And so we've always tried to model our leadership after after Jesus. Whether you believe He is your savior, whether you believe He was a prophet, whether you believe that, you know, he was this leadership figure in time, rabbi or whatever, whatever you believe he was, there's no debating that he was a historical figure, and he was a leader. And, and so, you know, I've always just kinda tried to model, you know, the leadership lessons of Jesus and that the Gospels, you know, is the greatest example. It reminds us to settle disputes quickly and to be a peacemaker.
Dayton Moore:Well, great leaders have those attributes. It reminds us to be responsive to people and to care and have simple kindness and concern for what they're experiencing in life. The gospels remind us to go above and beyond and give people more than they expect, reminds us to, be humble and and and share, the glory and give credit away when success, is, attributed to your team, your family, your company, your organization. And it also reminds us the importance to stand up for people. Don't kick people when they're down.
Dayton Moore:Be an encourager to them. And so the gospels, I believe, are the examples of the greatest leadership lessons and principles in the history of mankind. And, of course, Jesus is the greatest competitor. There's nobody who competed better than anybody else than Jesus on this earth. And he came here to compete for your life, my life, our future generations, our children.
Dayton Moore:He sacrificed everything he had for us. And there's no greater example of how to compete, and and to compete, than than what he did for us. He competed for for us. And, and so I've always just tried to to model my behavior after that. And I've had great mentors, Rusty, through the years.
Dayton Moore:I've had great mentors that have encouraged me to, stay true to my faith. Mhmm. Tim Cash, one of my mentors, spiritual mentors, always said you'd rather be persecuted for good. Other people have said, you know, just be just be real, be who you are. And so we've always just kind of led in a very transparent way.
Dayton Moore:And now, and also remember, I mean, when I started my leadership journey, there wasn't social media. In fact, when I became a general manager in 2006, I mean, I never knew what Twitter was. And I think it was just a few years later, maybe 2010, 2011, Twitter and social media and Facebook and all this became apparent to me. And so, you know, we've had to lead in a very transparent, society where everybody knows exactly what you're doing. And so, and I've always shared with players and coaches and instructors and our own children and people that I care about.
Dayton Moore:You might as well be transparent in life because you're going to get exposed anyway. And so, you know, that's just kinda what, how we've kind of done our life. I mean, this is who I am. And, and, you know, these are the things that are important to me. Now, again, I've chosen to have a relationship with Jesus, primarily because I've studied him and I know what he, what he was, what he is about, what he was about when he was on this earth and the type of competitor that he was and is.
Dayton Moore:And so I studied that. I tried to model myself out of the best of the best. And through that, my relationship with him has just become deeper and deeper.
Rusty George:That is such great stuff. We could stop right there. And that would be enough for us to chew on. But, while I've got the time, I wanna dig into your time with the royals. So we've already talked about this offline.
Rusty George:I mean, you and I both grew up in Kansas. We both grew up as royals fans. And now you get a chance to take over the royals in 2006. They were in the basement as far as an organization goes. And for those of us that lived through those days, we remember them not fondly, but vividly.
Rusty George:And here you come into this organization. Everybody told you not to go because you're part of a winning organization Atlanta. Now suddenly you're going to the Royals. Part of that probably because it's a great opportunity and because it's there's some nostalgia there. You love this team.
Rusty George:So when you get to a place like that, there's immediate expectations for things to turn around on a dime, but they can't. So how do you balance quick wins with preaching patience? Because you know it's going to take time? I think you even said to them it's a 10 year rebuilding project. So how do you give the people some quick wins while also maintaining a level of patient expectations?
Dayton Moore:Well, that's that's a great question. And, you know, I don't know if we we did it perfectly, I always wanted to be a leader. And I think the greatest not just in a forty figure. I I wanted to be a leader. And I I felt like that the the greatest trait that a leader has is is love and the ability to to try to love people, to care about people.
Dayton Moore:I think it was doctor King that said power without love is reckless and abusive. And, so when I when I stepped into that chair and the highest level of leadership in an organization, I wanted to make sure the very first thing that we did was to spend a lot of 1 on one time with people. Get to know people, articulate to them that, hey, look, my team is at home. I want your team to be at home as well. In fact, I want you to be the greatest husband and father that you can and then give the royals everything else.
Dayton Moore:Okay? So I wanted to make sure that we we set those priorities, and and they heard it from me. And so because I knew that it was gonna be maybe the toughest challenge in all of sports. With the way the economics of the game had changed and was continuing to change, and and, the royals were obviously a small market, They didn't have a lot of players in their system. Most people in the industry didn't think that we could win.
Dayton Moore:And in fact, after being here, Rusty, and evaluating every organization or the, you know, the last 2 to 3 months when we came here in 2,006, I was somewhat convinced that there's no way we could win in Kansas City. So what do we do? We just tried to we wanted just to make this one of the best environments in the history of sports where people wanted to work. And And I knew to do that, that, you know, as the leader, as somebody that was responsible for all aspects of the organization, that I needed to make sure that I spent a lot of 1 on 1 time with our people, setting the vision, articulating the vision. And, of course, there are times when you have to stand up in front of the group and and try to inspire and and share that vision to the masses.
Dayton Moore:But you know and I know, really, the only way to build a consensus and to get people on board is is spend time with them in small groups and 1 on 1 and get a chance to ask questions and connect with each other's hearts. And so we all have an understanding of of what we're about. And, and so that's really, you know, how we did it. And, that's what we wanted to do is just develop great relationships. Relationships are so much more important than outcomes.
Dayton Moore:And in professional sports and even, you know, college athletics now, you know, we want it to make, we want it to be all about winning. And it's the bottom line. And I understand that that's a part of it. But I think to win, and to win at the highest level, it has to be relationship based. And so that's how we went about trying to change the culture, just spend as much time as we can 1 on 1 with our people.
Dayton Moore:And so many times today, you know, you hear stories about when a new general manager or president comes on board and it may be 2 to 3 months before some of their employees have had any connection with the leader of the organization. I find that sad. I really do. Because, you know, that's not how it should be. Mhmm.
Rusty George:You had a great line in your book. And let me just mention the book. It's called More Than A Season, by Dayton Moore, Building A Championship Culture. And this was, I bought this just so I could read kind of the journey you took the Royals through. But there are so many leadership nuggets in here.
Rusty George:I found myself highlighting a lot of it. You had a line in there where you talked about in the early days, you wanted to hire people you'd want to have at your dinner table with your family. Talk about that a little bit because we don't always think about that when it comes to the world of professional sports.
Dayton Moore:Well, it's, you know, we we when we when we came here, we wanted to create an organization. We want our own families and sons and daughters to be a part of. And, we we felt that that was really, really important. And, you know, there was there was 3 things that I think are are crucial in in hiring individuals. And 1, 1, I felt like that the people that we hired need to be able to apply moral principles in their
Rusty George:life.
Dayton Moore:They need to know right from wrong, if you will. And, you know, because there's nobody that I've ever worked with or dealt with on a consistent basis where their personal life doesn't leak into their professional life, or their professional life doesn't leak into their personal life. And, and it's, it's, it's intertwined. And, and so I felt that that was really, really important because the leaders have to be able to model the behavior that you want seen in with your team. And, and so that was really crucial.
Dayton Moore:The second thing that we felt was really important is, we want people are gonna embrace diversity.
Rusty George:Mhmm.
Dayton Moore:Diverse thought, diverse backgrounds, diverse cultures, really, really important. And then the third thing is we want people to to compete for one another, to be able to have the ability to put others first. And, again, simple principles that Jesus talks about in the gospels. And, you know, we want to, you know, be able to compete, for each other, have the the the ability and the desire to put the needs and wants of others first and your own needs and wants, second. And, I think John Wooden may have said it this way.
Dayton Moore:He said, don't be so consumed with it being your way or having your own way, but the way of every just the best way, I think is what he said. Don't be consumed with having it one way or your way, your own way, but but just be consumed with it being the best way. And, so getting a group of people together that truly, could compete for one another was was really, really important.
Rusty George:You you have so many great lines in this book about the type of people you were looking for. A couple I wanted to just get your comments on. One was, and I've used this line multiple times since reading this book, looking for people with a critical eye versus a critical spirit. Boy, that is a big distinction there. How are you able to discern who is, who is one versus the other?
Dayton Moore:Well, that's another great question. You know, I I've always felt that, the most successful people are they expect a lot. They expect a lot out of themselves. They expect a lot out of their teammates, their colleagues. But they're also the individuals that are the first to forgive, to give grace, to give multiple chances.
Dayton Moore:And so I think that's where we talked about, you know, the critical eye versus a critical spirit. And that works in leadership when people are judging you each and every day, right? So every single day, you and I are being judged by somebody. And thank God that we have those people in our lives that are looking at us with a critical eye. They're uncovering blind spots for us.
Dayton Moore:They're shaping us. They're molding us. They're speaking truth into our lives. But we also know that there's people that will look at look at us with a critical spirit. And those are the individuals that we simply cannot please.
Dayton Moore:It doesn't matter what side of the argument we're on. If we say the sky's blue, they say it's gray. If we say it's gray, they say it's blue. I mean, we all have those types of people in our lives. And, you know, our faith allows us, you know, to give that away.
Dayton Moore:Those that are judging us unfairly or looking at us with a critical spirit. But also as a leader, again, you want to expect a lot. Expectations, as we all know, drive results. But understand that a lot of days, you and I and the people we work with aren't going to, you know, meet expectations. And they're going to make mistakes.
Dayton Moore:Give that away in advance and know that you're gonna be the first one to come alongside of them and give them that grace and be able to, you know, forgive them and move on each day.
Rusty George:Another great line you had was, I think this was a concept you and former manager Trey Hillman came up with was energy, givers versus energy suckers. How do you see that in people?
Dayton Moore:Well, I mean, you know, there's there's some people that, you know, they they walk in the room and they, you know, give off an aura of, like, hey. You guys are here for me. You guys exist for my benefit. And then there are other people that walk in the room, and they give out this oar. And it's like, hey, I'm here for you.
Dayton Moore:I'm here to bring value to each and every one of you. I'm here to serve you. And, again, I'm a big John Wooden studier. And I think John Wooden's father, you know, made it very clear to him as a young boy, you're never gonna whine, you're never gonna complain, and you're not going to make excuses. And, you know, we've always tried to to live, you know, by that and surround ourselves, you know, with people that are gonna look for the positivity in things.
Dayton Moore:They understand that, you know, when we do make mistakes and the challenges that we face and the setbacks that we have, it's all for our learning. It's moldiness and shaping us into the team and the leaders that that we want to be. And, and and again, it's it, but it takes encouragement. You've got to there's a lot of days where my attitude, is a reflection of maybe what I'm experiencing. You know?
Dayton Moore:The if I'm and and that's just human nature. And so we've we've gotta surround ourselves, you know, with individuals who are gonna pick us up, believe in us, encourage us. Encouraging words is what motivates us at the end of the day. People standing up for us when we when we have bad days and not kicking us when we're down, that's what motivates us. And so you wanna surround yourself with with people that that have those attributes and those qualities.
Dayton Moore:I mean, you mentioned Ned Yost earlier off offline off the air, we were talking about Ned. I mean, Ned's one of the most positive and optimistic people, you know, I've ever been around. And, that's that's the reason, in my opinion, that, you know, he was always so successful because he was always positive and looking out for, you know, the very best in in everybody, but also, you know, making the best of every situation.
Rusty George:Hey. Let me interrupt this podcast to just remind you about courage to lead.com, a great organization that is helping leaders build killer teams. And I'm happy to announce that I am now part of their organization helping pastors and business leaders. If you'd like to learn more about me being your coach or finding a different coach, just check it out at my website, pastor Rusty George dot com for more information. Alright.
Rusty George:Back to the show. So you you put these values into place. You determine the kind of culture you wanna have, and then the long game begins. And you're just kinda letting it grow. You're making some trades.
Rusty George:You're calling up some people from the minor leagues. You're getting the right managers in place. But, boy, it was a lot of years, several, I should say, before you started to see the results of that. Now you've got all this pressure from externally coming in. When are we gonna win?
Rusty George:When are we gonna win? How did you battle that? How did you go through those difficult times and maintain, you know, stay the course, trust the process, stay on target? Were there just certain people around you that you were dialed in with the owner and the manager and that? Or was it just kind of this internal resolve?
Rusty George:How did you keep your eye on the prize, so to speak?
Dayton Moore:Well, every both. I mean, everything that you just mentioned, but the number one aspect of that, truthfully, was the support I had from, you know, mister David Glass, who, as you know, one of the most successful businessmen in our history of our country. You know, he built Walmart, you know, into this great company and, somebody who was highly respected. And, you know, mister Glass, I I felt without a doubt, had our had our back. I mean, we had his unconditional support.
Dayton Moore:And, not that he didn't challenge us, but at the end of the day, he we knew he was supporting everything that we did. And we so we didn't have to concern ourselves necessarily with, you know, maybe what the media was saying or, those individuals that were looking at us and evaluating us with that critical spirit that we talked about because Mr. Glass and his family was very supportive. And, but we also knew, Rusty, that we were going to be good. I mean, we we the talent that we had in the organization, was at a very high level.
Dayton Moore:I think in 2010, we were voted, you know, the organization with, you know, the best minor league system and, by a long shot. In fact, some people said it perhaps was the best minor league system in the history of baseball. And so we had a lot of really, you know, high quality players. You can't predict a world championship, but I knew we were going to start winning games. And so, at the end of the day, you know, I felt that, you know, we would be validated.
Dayton Moore:Our fans would would certainly appreciate the hard work and, and they would enjoy the players because we are raising these players to connect with the fans. They played with great energy and, they showed personality on the field. They were high quality people. And let's face it, when you're good people make good players. And, you know, we've raised these kids through our system with, with values and, and, and we valued them.
Dayton Moore:And, you know, and I know, and I learned this as a young coach and I read this somewhere, that said the more you value your players and your people, the better values they'll have. And so, again, you go back to, you know, hiring coaches and scouts and instructors that you'd want your own family to be around. Well, the people that we had in the organization had values, and and they valued people. And and so our players were character character driven, and and, our fans, you know, understood, you know, who they were, and they got to see those values. And so we knew that they would, in turn, motivate and inspire our fans, you know, to follow the team.
Rusty George:It seemed to me that you talk about in the book flipping the switch and, you know, you call up all these players. There was a distinct difference when Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez take the field because of their their energy and their chemistry with each other. You just looked at them and thought they really like each other. They love the game And it's almost infectious. Did you see that in the locker room and the dugout that they just changed the temperature of everything?
Dayton Moore:Well, they did. And, you know, we set vision, you know, with them constantly. You know, even before we drafted Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, we talked about the importance of, you know, winning together in Kansas City. They understood that we were going to stay with them through the ups and downs of their minor league career and their major league career. Now, we didn't sugarcoat anything.
Dayton Moore:We told them it was going to be tough. We told them it was gonna be perhaps the greatest challenge of their professional life. But they also understood that we were going to stay with them and we were gonna support them unconditionally. The same support we had from the Glass family, we were going to commit to them. And we talked about the importance of doing something special in Kansas City.
Dayton Moore:You know, the Royals had not won a World Series since 1985. We believed they were going to be the group to bring a world championship back to Kansas City. I mean, we talked about it with him and how special it was going to be. And so we continued to preach that message and to cast that vision, and we would do it constantly. And so, and we talked about the importance of togetherness and unity and oneness of purpose amongst teams.
Dayton Moore:And, you know, that was we were just focused on that mission and growing them as leaders. And, you know, they won together in the minor leagues. Doesn't mean you're going to win at the major league level, but, it certainly can be a strong predictor. And it was.
Rusty George:So you get to the playoffs in 2014. I remember the moment that we clinched the playoffs, and I thought this is just the greatest thing ever. And then the the wild card game where it looked like you're gonna lose and then they came back and won, which was unbelievable. And then we just go on this hot streak all the way to the World Series and then lose to the Giants eventually. I thought, first of all, it was such a classy move of the royals to to celebrate the Giants in those moments, to turn on the lights as orange for them, to you know, reward them.
Rusty George:But then to start chanting let's go royals after it was all over with as a way to say, hey. We're back, and we're coming back next year. But, personally, how long did it take you to bounce back from that loss in the World Series?
Dayton Moore:Well, we we were hurting, you know, because we we felt we were better than the Giants. You know, the Angels, who we, you know, we played, after, you know, beating the a's. I mean, the Angels were really good. I think they won 97 games that year. And and we just played better than them at that series.
Dayton Moore:I mean, probably player for player, I mean, they may be I mean, they have more accomplished, more veteran talent. And then the we went on to to play the Orioles, and and the Orioles, again, had a very good team as well. They had some guys that were injured and they weren't completely healthy. But, you know, we we went on to to beat them. And and, I wasn't sure we were, you know, really better.
Dayton Moore:We knew it was gonna be a tough matchup. But when we got to the Giants, we felt we were better than the Giants. We really did. And, so that, that really, that really hurt, losing to them. And I still, in fact, Bruce Bocey, who is obviously the manager of the Rangers, who I work with now, as you know.
Dayton Moore:Boatsh and I talk about this. And we talk about, you know, Panic made that diving play up the middle on the ball Eric Hosmer hit with Lorenzo Cain on second. And they executed a double play, a 4 6 3 double play. And and we both talked about, you know, if they wouldn't have made that play, I think we would have went on and and won that game. And, a fine line, winning and losing.
Dayton Moore:But, to answer your question, I mean, we were we were hurting. But our fans, our community really motivated us to go to work right away. And and we did. I mean, we we had a little celebration, a little kind of pep rally, if you will, a fan appreciation, day at the k after we lost. And then we went up to the the the baseball operations room, and and we started discussing, you know, how we were going to put together, a championship caliber roster for 2015.
Dayton Moore:We knew our players would come back hungry and and more dedicated than ever, and we wanted to make sure we were prepared as a front office to make sure that we supplemented our our current roster the very best we could to give our players and our fans, you know, that opportunity to win, a world championship in 2015.
Rusty George:So, obviously, that's exactly what happened in 2015. It was magical from my perspective. But for you, I mean this was the the apex. You hit the top of the mountain. Was there a sense of this is incredibly satisfying or a sense of, well, here we go again the next year?
Rusty George:How did you feel in that moment?
Dayton Moore:Well, it's, it's hard to describe. You know, you you think that it's going to be, you know, this euphoric, you know, more than magical feeling, and it and it was special. But, you know, I felt just extreme gratitude. I'm very thankful that we were able to to do something special together. You reflect back on, you know, all the hard work and the dedication.
Dayton Moore:You're appreciative of the great support of certainly ownership, mister Glass, Dan Glass, their family. You know, all the people that that helped you, you know, get where you are. There's also a great sense of relief. You know, keep in mind, I started with the Atlanta Braves. And, you know, we were in the playoffs every year.
Dayton Moore:And a lot of times, we had the very best team, but it's hard to win. A lot has to go your way. And, you know, the Braves during that magical run of 14 straight division titles had 1 World Series championship. And so I knew it was very difficult, you know, to ultimately win a World Series. And so there was this great feeling of satisfaction and appreciation.
Dayton Moore:But, you know, the thing that I'm most thankful of is, you know, their our core group of baseball operations employees, you know, they were able to celebrate with their families. Their families stayed together during that time. And when you have young families and you're in a high pressure position, in sports, I mean, there's a lot of tension, a lot of pressure. And then when you have a young family, we know the challenges of that young family as well. And, it puts on, it intensifies even further.
Dayton Moore:And as I said before, personal lives leak into professional lives, professional lives leak into personal lives. And the fact that I just remember this this moment when our families were celebrating and thinking, you know what, wow, They're getting a chance to enjoy this opportunity together, and their marriages have stayed intact. Their children are thriving and doing well. And and hopefully, it's a it's a moment that, they'll remember forever and, help springboard them on to even greater things in life and realize that, you know, when when everybody, you know, puts their own desires aside and commits to doing one thing, and supporting one another, you know, we can ultimately do special things. And I and that's what I really I remember the most.
Dayton Moore:And I'm thankful that I had, you know, that, that moment during those celebrations where I could, you know,
Rusty George:feel that. Yeah. It must be tremendous euphoria, relief, excitement. And yet at the same time, you there's gotta be this realization, and I think Ned and I talked about this after the Atlanta Braves World Series of realizing where there really is more to life. And that was kind of a turning point in his faith after they had won the World Series, and he was still searching.
Rusty George:And I think that for every person that's in sports that has a relationship with Jesus, they recognize that there's there's something bigger, which is probably what helped you through the next few years because Ned and I talked about how the Royals really should have won 3 in a row, but the Giants loss obviously and then the injuries, the loss of Ventura, the horrific things that happened you know, that following season and then obviously, you know, you have some key injuries and some players leave for different contracts. The winning begins to stop and eventually, you know, I think the team is sold, and they go a different direction from you. So I just wanna ask you about that because there's a lot of our listeners that have been part of great companies and organizations. And then they decide to go a different direction. What does that do to your faith?
Rusty George:How did your faith carry you through that? How did you kind of manage that in your own mind? Did you see it coming? Just talk us through that process a little bit.
Dayton Moore:Yeah. I mean, it's it's interesting, and I haven't spoken a lot about it. But, you know, I'd made an advanced decision, prior to even taking the role as a general manager of the Kansas City Royals that when my time was finished, that I wanted to handle things with grace and integrity. You know, being a college coach and coming up through the system with the Braves and being in positions where I had to release players and send players out my entire career, and certainly no different as a general manager with the Royals. You know, I've seen a lot of people handle it with grace and some people, you know, not so well.
Dayton Moore:And, and so I had made an advanced decision that whenever our time was through, you know, I wanted to handle it, in a classy way. And so I've been preparing, you know, for that moment. Did I want to get let go by the Kansas City Royals? No. Did I ever envision a scenario where that would happen?
Dayton Moore:You know, I knew it would at some point, but it did catch me off guard because, you know, we were, you know, moving forward in some areas that I think really rebuilding the team at a level that's going to compete at a high level here in the very near future. And I think everybody in baseball was recognizing that.
Rusty George:But,
Dayton Moore:you know, there's a lot of things you just can't control. You know, I've went through, you know, times of being, you know, angry, you know, during this past year.
Rusty George:Mhmm.
Dayton Moore:And also being very, very thankful for, the blessings that God has given me and allowed me to lead in doing something that I really, really love to do and feel honored to do. And so it's just part of, it's just part of the game. And, you know, I I feel like that, you know, I'm I'm right where I need to be in working with, Chris Young and the Texas Rangers, one of our former players here, you know, with Kansas City when I was a GM, and I think was the MVP of our pitching staff in 2015. And so the fact that, you know, he asked me to join him is a tremendous blessing and a great honor. But yeah, I mean, I've went through a lot of, you know, different feelings, you know, being no longer with the Kansas City Royals, especially when, you know, we had opportunity to leave the Royals after we won.
Dayton Moore:And we didn't, we stayed. And we stayed primarily because we had the great support of the Glass family, and they were allowing us to build it and rebuild it the exact same way. And, you know, the model in professional sports is once you win in a small market, you move on. Or even in college, you know, Bill Self, for example. I mean, Bill Self wins at Tulsa, he goes to University of Illinois.
Dayton Moore:When's University of Illinois, he goes to Kansas. You know, Andrew Friedman won in Tampa, and he went to LA. And there's, you know, Pat Gillick would move, you know, from different markets. And once he had success, you go to another place. And so I knew that that was going to be the professional model that you must follow if you want to sustain success in the game.
Dayton Moore:But for personal reasons, we decided to stay in Kansas City. And the Glass family was a big part of those personal reasons. And then, you know, I can't predict, you know, you know, what was going to happen. Mister Glass got sick. He had to sell the team or decide to sell the team, and, you know, that's part of life.
Dayton Moore:And, you know, I have to accept that. But one of the things, Rusty, that I've I've told every player and every coach and everybody I've I've encountered is, you may earn things in life, but you don't deserve anything in life. And if you wake up every day with gratitude and a thankful heart knowing that you don't deserve anything, and nobody owes you anything, and you make that advanced decision, and you're just grateful for the opportunities that you have, to me, it was a very, it was the right way to look at life. It's, and it's what works for me and my mindset. And so, and that's what I've always shared with people.
Dayton Moore:And so again, when I was faced with, you know, that setback, you know, I had to model the things that, you know, I've been saying, you know, all those years to others. And, but it was a challenge to do so. And it still is at times. But again, I'm just very thankful that, you know, we had a great opportunity in Kansas City. I believe we made the game of baseball better in our community.
Dayton Moore:And, hopefully, we inspired a lot of people to be baseball fans and royals fans. And and the only thing we ever tried to do is is, is share the love we have for baseball, and the love we have for the royals with everybody else that we came in contact in our community and throughout the country. And I I think we we did that, and I hope we did.
Rusty George:Absolutely. Well, as one fan, and I always hope I'd have an opportunity to tell you this once I found out we had some mutual connections. Growing up, the one thing that my dad and I had in common was Royals baseball. And we would watch it. We, you know, obviously, I grew up watching George Brett.
Rusty George:We we lamented 1 World Series. We celebrated in 85. And then there was a, obviously, a dry spell. But for me to be able to experience that world series again, you know, sharing those kind of moments there's there's deeper things going on. It's Field of Dreams moments.
Rusty George:It's playing catch with your dad. And, and you brought all your team brought all that back for me and for my father and for countless others. So on behalf of 1 fan, thank you. And thank you for doing it right. I was so proud of those players, and I was proud to, you know, support them and and, and cheer for them because they seem like great individuals.
Rusty George:And I love the entire organization. So I'm grateful for that. I hated that, that they they went in a different direction. But tell us a little bit about, you know, what you're doing now with the Texas Rangers because you guys just had another world series.
Dayton Moore:We did. And, you know, you mentioned earlier, you know, you know, kinda Ned's revelation of fact that, you know, winning the world series is is great, but it's not the most important thing. And and, you know, he had those realizations and those moments and so forth. And, you know, after we won here, with with the Rangers, And just another, just a special feeling, and, 1st World Series championship in Royals history. You know, immediately, you know, I began to think about, okay.
Dayton Moore:I hope that I get an opportunity to be there, with our coaches, our scouts, our instructors, and our players at some point in time, either next year or 2 to 3 years into the future, when they have that same realization, that winning the World Series was great. It's the highest accomplishment in the game, team accomplishment in the game, and it's special. But when they realize it's not the most important thing, I want to be there to be able to share what is the most important thing in the world, and that's a relationship with Jesus. And so, you know, that's I feel like, Rusty, in a lot of ways, I'm just getting prepared to lead. It's all preparing, I believe me, for what's what's next.
Dayton Moore:And, and so, you know, being with Chris Young and being with a lot of young baseball executives and players and scouts, and I get to share the mistakes that I've made and to bring hope and encouragement to them. I mean, I feel like that that's where I'm supposed to be right now. So it's just been a just a a lot of fun and and and great, leadership opportunities, you know, at this point in time.
Rusty George:So at this stage of your career, am I counting right? Do you have 3 World Series rings, 1 with Atlanta, 1 with Kansas City, and one with Texas?
Dayton Moore:We do. Yeah. You know, we've been blessed to be a part of 6 world series and and, 3 world series championships. And, you know, I've been in a different role for all 3 of those World Series championships. So it's, you know, I've had 5 different roles, I guess, with the 6.
Dayton Moore:So to be able to experience at different levels has just been a great blessing.
Rusty George:Well, I wanna ask you this. It's common in sports to talk about the Mount Rushmore of a team and figure out the top four players that had the biggest impact on their team. I'm I'm throwing you for a loop here. I didn't I didn't give you these questions ahead of time or this one. But who would be on Mount Rushmore for the Kansas City Royals in your mind?
Dayton Moore:Of the players that, were with us? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh, there's so many.
Rusty George:I mean, obviously, as I think about the history of the Royals, number 1 is George Brett. But who are the other 3?
Dayton Moore:Yeah. Boy, I mean, there's you you know, it's it's hard for me to to single guys out. You know, if you're gonna win or if your team's gonna reach its ceiling, everybody on that team has to be a leader. And somebody everybody's gonna be called upon to lead at some level during, the, during the 162 games. You know, I think of Gerard Dyson, who, you know, got 10 plus years of Major League service and the energy that he would bring every day and, and, you know, his enthusiasm and his positivity.
Dayton Moore:And he was such a great leader. And of course, Salvador Perez, with his charisma and his personality on the field, and Eric Hosmer and Mike Mestakis and their competitive nature and, their fearless attitude to play, and they would inspire so many people. You brought up your Dono Ventura, who lost his life in 2017. You know, his fearless attitude and, you you know, his, his his just, competitiveness. And so, I mean, there's just so many different players, and I've been blessed to be a part of many of them, whether it be in Atlanta or Kansas City, and now with Texas.
Dayton Moore:And I've got so much great so it's great respect for players, because of the commitment, that it takes to play this game. And I know what they experience and the sacrifice that they make. And so to, you know, the, you know, obviously, Alex Gordon is a player that's very special, to me personally. I admire his commitment and what he did, his ups and downs and his commitment level. But I, to, just to name a few, you know, it's, but there I just got such such great respect for all of them, truthfully.
Rusty George:Yeah. That's a fine list, that's for sure. Well, Dayton, this has been a treat for me and I know for our listeners, and I'm just so blessed by the way that you have led. And I'm grateful that you put it down in words in this book. This book is fantastic.
Rusty George:Even for our listeners who are not baseball fans or royals fans, this book is just chock full of leadership principles that are fantastic. And I just wanna thank you for being on our our show today, and I wish you all the best and just thank you as a great for a Royals fan for, for bringing them back. It was a great run.
Dayton Moore:Thanks, Rusty. I appreciate it. Thanks for having us.
Rusty George:Thank you. Well, Dayton, thank you so much for being a part of the show. What a gift. What an honor this was. Boy, a few years ago, I got to talk to Ned Yost, who was the manager.
Rusty George:And this year, I get to talk to Dayton Moore, who was the general manager. I've pretty much covered all the bases just waiting for a couple of the players to show up. That would be a lot of fun. Well, listen. Next week, we're back with a a conversation that was had a few years ago, but I'm bringing it back because how close we are to Easter.
Rusty George:He was a cold case detective. And as an atheist, he thought, what if I used my skills to disprove the resurrection? Ended up becoming a Christian. He's been on Dateline as well as countless others documentaries, a published author, and a world renowned speaker. He's former detective J Warner Wallace.
Rusty George:I'm gonna replay my conversation with him just a few years ago. You're not gonna wanna miss it. As always, share this with a friend, hit subscribe, and we'll talk to you next week. And as always, keep it simple.