The man who built the World Champion Kansas City Royals says the team rarely talks about the World Series.
"If you talk so much about you got to win a World Series or get back to the World Series or repeat, truthfully it robs you of your focus," said Royals general manager Dayton Moore.
The Royals are trying to become the first team to make three straight World Series appearances since the Yankees went to their fourth consecutive in 2001.
"The one thing I know about baseball is it beats you up every single day, and whoever manages failure the best reaches their ceiling," Moore said.
Greatest place in sports
To create a winning culture, Moore says he focuses on putting everyone else's needs first.
"We want to create a great place where people want to work and be a part of. And not just a great place, the greatest place in the history of sports,” Moore said, "We’ve got to fight for that culture and defend it every single day. It’s not going to naturally occur."
Family first
To do that, Moore tells his team to take care of family first so they're not distracted at work.
"We demand that you don't miss birthdays, don't miss anniversaries, don't miss special occasions," Moore said.
The players said they appreciate Moore’s support.
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"His message at spring training the first day is always the same, and it's 'make sure your families are OK,'" said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. "You've seen stuff he's done for guys off the field, and you realize he cares about each and every single guy."
The Royals say Moore has created a family atmosphere by putting family first.
"You see him more as a family, like he's everybody's Dad in here, you know," said Royals catcher Salvador Perez.
Not friends
While Moore is seen as a father figure, he doesn’t want to make friends with the players. It’s the same philosophy Moore uses at home to raise his three children.
"No. You are a leader and you are to not cross that line and your job is to help mold and shape lives," Moore told 41 Action News.
While demanding respect and accountability, Moore also understands the struggle of consistency and admits mistakes.
"I think it's important to be vulnerable. I mean you have to be transparent," Moore said.
Faith and charity
"If there's anything good in me, it comes from God. It's really nothing that I've done," Moore said.
Faith has helped Moore and his family through the ups and downs of baseball; the Moore family volunteers their time with non-profit organizations including City Union Mission of Kansas City.
In 2013, Moore created the "C" You In the Major Leagues Foundation to "support youth baseball, education, families in crisis and faith-based programs and organizations."
"We just do everything we can each and every day to represent the game well and again make sure every little boy and every little girl has this same desire to be in this game that we did,” Moore said.
The view from behind the fence
Growing up as a Royals fan, Moore and a friend watched the Royals win Game 7 of the 1985 World Series from above the stadium behind the fence line along I-70.
“The whole fence line was full,” Moore said. “They were cooking out and they had a little portable, you know, battery-operated TV that was in and out, a little static. But it was fun."
The Wichita native went on to play baseball at Garden City Community College and then at George Mason University, where he later coached.
"My mother had a passion for the game, my grandmother had a passion for the game, my father was very supportive of us to pursue things that we enjoyed doing," Moore said.
Serious passion
This inherited passion for baseball is one Moore admits he’s serious about.
“I’ve always been very intense about doing things the right way,” Moore said.
Even after the team he built won the 2015 World Series, he didn’t celebrate for long before turning serious again.
"That's pretty much all you'll see out of him. You'll see a little fist pump or a little head nod," Hosmer said.
"The next day he's like nothing happen, the same guy, you know, serious,” Perez said.
Serious about his goal to make the Royals the greatest team and greatest place in the history of sports.
"If you give your best every single day, you're going to be successful because very few people have the ability to do that,” Moore said.
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Patrick Fazio can be reached at patrick.fazio@kshb.com.
