Royals’ Buddy Biancalana Has a Busy Winter

Buddy Biancalana will remember this winter as long as he lives--because people have remembered him.

“This is all new to me,” Biancalana said one recent morning after another personal appearance in the Kansas City area. “Usually I just sit around home, work out and get bored.”

This winter has been about as far from being boring as the Midwest is from the summer sun.

This winter Biancalana and the rest of the Kansas City Royals are warmed from the knowledge they were the best team in baseball in 1985.

“Being World Champions and having had a pretty good World Series, I’ve had to do a lot more,” Biancalana said before heading down to his neighborhood health club to find out how much sweat he could give them.

Biancalana still can’t get over the fact he became a celebrity last fall. First because he didn’t hit. Then because he did--in the playoffs and World Series.

The switch-hitting shortstop batted .188 last season for 81 games. In 138 at-bats he only had 26 hits, one home run and six runs-batted in. Those numbers are memorable only because they are so forgettable.

“It’s been flattering,” he said of all the attention. “It’s an advantage to be recognized out in public.

“Sometimes it can be an aggravation,” he admitted. “There are certain places I’ll avoid going to at certain times of the day. But I try to accommodate everyone. I certainly don’t want to come off being a bad guy.”

He became a late-night talk show celebrity last fall--a large part of that due to Biancalana’s ability to poke fun at himself.

Then in the playoffs Biancalana “exploded” for a .222 average (4 for 18, one walk, one RBI).

And in Kansas City’s seven-game victory over St. Louis in the World Series the shortstop was a decent MVP candidate for his .278 average (5 for 18, five walks, two RBI).

What those things did were change Biancalana’s life.

“Being recognized wherever I go around Kansas City is a drastic change for me,” Biancalana said. “I think that would be a big change for any person, have people watching you all the time.

“I have very little privacy now,” he said, not complaining, just stating a fact. “That’s the biggest change that really sticks out in my mind.

“The way people react to me has really been something. People really appreciate what I did, what the Royals did for Kansas City. It’s a good feeling.”

Biancalana has been on the road nearly as much as an 18-wheeler this winter. Doing this charity, performing in that media event, speaking at someone’s banquet.

“I’d say I’ve been out three times a week locally,” Biancalana said. “I’ve appeared at schools, banquets; I went to a baseball decathalon in Florida, a parade in Florida and I went to California for a few appearances. I’ve been busy.

“It’s flattering, especially to a player with my accomplishments, which aren’t that great to this point. I didn’t have a great season. But I did have a good World Series.”

It could have been a nervous winter for Biancalana rather than a warm one.

After all, a lot was written about how Kansas City’s second priority after a hard-hitting outfielder was a quality shortstop.

Trouble with those reports, however, is they didn’t bother to ask the Royals’ manager, Dick Howser, how displeased he was with his shortstop.

When asked, Howser said he wasn’t displeased at all. In fact, he went out of his way to point out Kansas City didn’t begin its move to the top until he inserted Biancalana as his starting shortstop.

Biancalana, it seems, is one of those players whose contributions don’t come out in the statistical tables as they do on that billiard table the Royals call home.

Though not blessed with great range, Biancalana makes the plays and can turn the double play. He may not be world beater at bat but what Howser appreciates is that he does what he’s asked and doesn’t muck it up.

The shortstop advances runners when he’s supposed to, can bunt and as the World Series showed is no pitcher at the plate.

“I heard all the talk,” Biancalana said, “about how they were going to try to get an outfielder and a shortstop. I knew they tried to get an outfielder. But I know they didn’t try to get a shortstop.

“Of course if a real good one had fallen in their laps, they would have taken him. But they didn’t go knocking on any doors. Not from what I’ve seen.”

That is a tribute to Biancalana. It tells him the Royals are counting on him playing a big part in their effort to repeat as champions of the division, the league and the sport. And Kansas City is going to need all the good help it can get to do that.

“Evidently it’s tough to repeat,” Biancalana said. “The New York Yankees and Oakland A’s are the last to do it. I don’t know why it’s so tough, whether the players slack off a bit, I don’t know.

“I know I’m not going to slack off. And I’ve talked to some of the other players. They all plan to work hard. Winning was so much fun.

“We know the quality of the team we have, with our good young pitching staff we should be strong for a few years. We have to work hard, take it one day at a time.

“We can’t go out, and expect that just because we’re World Champ-ions, we’re going to win it. That just doesn’t happen. It’s not that easy. We caught a lot of breaks last season. It wasn’t easy.

“I know a lot more people are going to be watching,” he said. “There will be added pressure. But pressure’s never bothered me. I think I showed that during the Series.”

Now matter how hard Biancalana believes it will be, he knows it’s likely to be even tougher. He fought the inclination to rest all winter.

“I was careful to get my workouts in during the winter,” he said. “There would always be days when it was tough to work out but I have always taken enough time to get my workouts in.

“I knew I didn’t want to take a step backwards. It could easily happen. The demands on my time . . . not being able to work out . . . the Series going to my head.

“But that’s not true. I’m as far away from being a superstar as any player in the big leagues. I have a lot to prove yet.”