Right Now, Hal McRae Would Rather Be With Family Than Be Manager

Of Hal McRae, it was once said: “A very intelligent, very capable man.”

Ewing Kauffman, majority owner of the Kansas City Royals, went so far as to add: “Hal’s been a member of our team since 1973, and we recognized a long time ago that he is a person with unusual qualities of leadership.”

It sounded like Kauffman was describing his next manager. Although McRae recognizes the importance of getting another black man into a manager’s job, it probably won’t be him, he says.

“I won’t do something I don’t want to do just because other people think that it’s something I should do,” he said. “I’m not a crusader.”

From 1975 through 1985, McRae was one of the game’s most productive hitters. As his expertise grew, a teammate once dubbed him “the governor,” for the regard in which people around the American League hold him.

When relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry came out of a prolonged slump several years ago, he pubicly thanked McRae for detecting a nearly imperceptible change that had crept into in his delivery.

McRae’s playing career probably ended this week when the Royals dropped him from their roster and made him a full-time hitting coach. McRae confirms he already has received feelers about managing.

“As far as a job as field manager goes, I’m not saying a team couldn’t twist my arm and get me to think very seriously about it,” McRae said. “But it would have to be a full-nelson.

“I’ve been in baseball since 1965, really, and all that time I’ve missed a big part of seeing my children grow up. All I want right now is to live a normal life in Bradenton, Fla., and come home every evening.”

McRae’s move into coaching comes at a time when baseball people are scrambling to remedy the racial imbalance in front offices that Al Campanis brought to the fore last April when he made his remark about blacks lacking the necessities for positions of responsibility.

The Royals, along with other major league clubs, have begun implementing minority-hiring programs in the wake of the furor set off by Campanis, who was forced to resign as a Los Angeles Dodgers vice president over the remarks.

McRae began this season as hitting coach-designated hitter, and will finish the season as batting instructor unless another team comes up with an attractive offer to keep him playing.

McRae said about a half-dozen clubs have minor league or instructional complexes within driving distance of his Bradenton home.

“If there was something where I could eat supper at home every night, that would be perfect,” he said. “I would like something like that because I want to keep my hand in baseball.”

McRae said he has not been approached by any civil rights groups about taking a front office or managerial job.

“But it wouldn’t do any good if they did approach me because the answer would still be no,” he said. “I feel I could learn as well as anybody the things I need to know about the front office, and about managing. And maybe I will change my mind some day. But right now, I want a 9-to-5 job where I can spend some time at home.”

He’s also aware he may be criticized for not seizing the moment.

“I’m not going to worry about satisfying a lot of people. That’s the way I’ve always lived my life,” he said.

“I’m not out to change the world or to be popular. Somebody needs to do it, OK. But that person probably won’t be me. And maybe it should be me. But I’m not the guy to change things.”