Royals’ South Korean fan is thrilled to be at World Series

The new generation of Kansas City Royals fans might swoon at Alex Gordon, or Lorenzo Cain, or Mike Moustakas. The guy who flew 14 hours to get here from South Korea is a diehard fan.

So, as SungWoo Lee bounced behind the batting cage before Game 1 of the World Series, excitement evident in his every step and every word, he leaped at the sight of an old-school Royals player.

“Mike Sweeney,” Lee said. “I can’t wait to run to Mike Sweeney right now.”

Lee is the unlikeliest of celebrities at the World Series, and the best story among them. He had no ties to Kansas City, but he adopted the Royals as his team in the 1990s, after seeing Kauffman Stadium and its majestic fountains on television in South Korea. The Royals were bad then, but they had been very good in the recent past. After all, they had won the 1985 World Series.

“I believed they would be a winner soon,” Lee said. “It took 29 years.”

All the while, Lee watched the Royals when he could, usually in the middle of the night, and participated on team message boards. In August, when he made his first visit to Kansas City, local television stations featured his story, and the Royals invited him to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

He is back this week, with an ESPN crew following him to Kansas City from South Korea and Major League Baseball providing him with World Series tickets. Fans greeted him at the airport when his flight landed Tuesday.

Lee, 38, said he never imagined he would return to Kansas City. That he was on the field before Game 1 of the World Series, with the Royals in the Series, was “a dream come true.”

As he rattled off the names of Royals past — Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, even Joe Randa — Sweeney walked over to say hello. Lee jumped into his arms.

“Did you get my email?” Sweeney said.

Lee asked about some autographed memorabilia.

“You come back for the parade,” Sweeney said.

Lee paused, as if he were not sure what Sweeney was talking about.

“The Kansas City Royals World Series parade,” Sweeney said.

Red Sox nation

Jake Peavy, who starts Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants, was acquired in July from the Boston Red Sox. Peavy said Tuesday that, within the previous 24 hours, he had gotten text messages from five Boston players with advice on how to beat the Royals.

That did not include David Ortiz, who walked into a news conference and interrupted the questioning to give Peavy a bear hug.

“People don’t know what kind of teammate and what kind of man he is,” Peavy said. “I think you guys just saw how genuine.”

And then Peavy said, laughing: “That was the thrill of the press conference.”

Dayton Moore in demand

The undercurrent of uneasiness in Kansas City stems from the fact that General Manager Dayton Moore has yet to say he is returning to the Royals. Moore joined the Royals from the Atlanta Braves, and he is highly regarded by the Braves executives searching for a general manager.

Royals owner David Glass told CBS Sports last week that Moore was “absolutely” staying in Kansas City. But, as the Royals worked out before Game 1 of the World Series, Moore declined to confirm that.

“There’s nothing I can really say,” Moore told The Times. “We’re focused on what we’re doing here. It’s not fair to talk about anything personal at this point in time.”