Players, coaches, and front office staff come and go in professional baseball. It's the nature of the business.
But Kansas City has something special with Art Stewart, senior advisor to general manger Dayton Moore. Stewart has worked an astonishing 63 years in baseball, 46 of which have been with the Royals.
As the longest tenured staff member, he's been with the club since day one. At 89 years old, Stewart shows no signs of slowing down.
"It's been a great ride," said Stewart. "Every player that has come through the system I have seen. Even George Brett when he was 18 years old. I have so many memories of great players."
"He's behind us 100 percent and we love him with his extensive experience and wealth of knowledge," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "His ability to still produce really important input for our team is invaluable."
Stewart has had a hand in building the Royals organization with signing many of the club's all-time greats, but he says fans never got to see the full potential of what could have been the best player to ever play the game.
"Bo Jackson had all the ability to be one of the greatest players that ever lived," said Stewart. "He really learned how to play baseball in the big leagues since he only played two years in the minors. Bo Jackson was the greatest player in the last century as far as I'm concerned."
Stewart is still making his mark and has been a part of every pennant and all four World Series appearances.
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Dee Jackson can be reached at dee.jackson@kshb.com.
