Brett Is Ready for a New Royal Proclamation

Carrying the title of vice president of baseball operations for the Kansas City Royals, George Brett has had a largely undefined role, a situation that could change dramatically under new ownership.

Particularly if Brett and his brothers become the new owners.

The El Segundo clan--fronted by George and Bobby Brett, an accountant and the brothers’ longtime financial overseer--is one of three groups known to have met last Tuesday’s deadline for preliminary bids.

The other two:

* A formidable partnership between Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Western Resources Inc., mainly an electric utility company based in Topeka, Kan.

* A group headed by E. Miles Prentice, a New York lawyer and owner of minor league baseball and hockey teams in Texas.

The situation pits two Kansas City icons: Hunt, owner of the Chiefs since inception, and Brett, who got 3,154 hits in his 20-year career with the Royals.

Do the Bretts have a chance?

Speaking from Spokane, Wash., where he lives and supervises the brothers’ ownership of the minor league baseball, hockey and soccer teams there, Bobby Brett cited the financial resources of the Hunt group and the corporate direction baseball has taken amid inflated salaries and franchise values and said:

“I think we’re a real longshot. When you look at who’s buying teams now, we’re the Valparaiso of the bidders. Everybody roots for a Valparaiso, but it usually doesn’t win.”

Valparaiso, of course, was the Cinderella team of the NCAA basketball playoffs before being eliminated in the Sweet 16.

The undaunted Bretts, who also own the Adelanto-based High Desert Mavericks of the California League and are partners with William Pereira in ownership of the El Paso Diablos of the Texas League, are prepared to go the distance, banking largely on George’s popularity in Kansas City.

Their group, for purpose of baseball’s required approval before submitting preliminary bids, was kept small--with Pereira, a founder of AirCal and also owner of minor league baseball and hockey teams in Idaho, a major financial partner.

The group will be expanded if it survives the elimination process, Bobby Brett said, though he would not acknowledge that former agent Dennis Gilbert and right-wing radio voice Rush Limbaugh, who once worked for the Royals, are likely to join up.

Certainly, the two other Brett brothers--John, a Palm Desert contractor, and Ken, a former major league pitcher who now lives in central California and does baseball analysis on FX--will be part of the team.

“What makes the Royals so attractive to us is that we have 12 years of experience and knowledge operating successful minor league programs and are confident we could be equally successful operating the Royals in what is a small-market environment,” Bobby Brett said. “However, we have only so much money. We don’t have the resources of the Hunt group, if that is the board’s sole criteria. It’s like we’re running the Kentucky Derby on a mule.”

The Royals hope to announce a preliminary agreement before the All-Star game July 6. Bidders must commit to keep the team in Kansas City and submit bids of at least $75 million. All proceeds from the sale will go to Kansas City-based charities.

The process was outlined by owner Ewing Kauffman in a succession plan before his death in 1992. The team was put in trust, with Kauffman contributing $50 million and Kansas City corporations another $50 million for operating expenses. Sources said the latter sum has not been touched and will also be donated to charity when the club is sold.

Management was given six years to find a local buyer, after which the club can simply be sold to the highest bidder. A high baseball official said many in the industry hope that David Glass, chief executive of WalMart Stores Inc., and chairman of the Royals’ board, ultimately forms a group to buy the team. However, Glass has insisted he is merely serving as custodian and has no interest in buying.

He has also rejected the Brett overtures for more than two years, creating consternation among Kansas City fans and underscoring a feeling that--except for his role as a spring-training instructor and some consultation in management decisions--George Brett has a title and little else, a strange way to treat the club’s most famous and popular link to the glory years of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Bobby Brett, who negotiated his brother’s contracts, including the seven-year vice-presidency provision, said George thinks it best to reserve comment during the sale process. He said they have unsuccessfully tried to have the Royals define George’s role, “but we’re not knocking anybody. I mean, who wouldn’t like to have his job? He makes real good money with no real hours and no real job description. He can play golf, go to the park or fly to California whenever he wants. He is interested and capable of doing more, but it’s not a pressing issue.”

He would do much more, of course, as owner.

The Bretts had been talking to Hunt about a possible partnership in pursuit of the Royals for two years and did not know that the Chiefs’ owner had decided to form another alliance until he announced it Tuesday.

“We were surprised, to say the least,” Bobby Brett said. “We had thought that having a Brett-Hunt partnership would be like having a Cassius Clay left and a George Foreman right, but he obviously decided that he didn’t need the jab. No problem. He has a formidable group with resources we don’t have. If the board decides that’s best for the city, we’ll be 100% behind them. Our focus is restoring the Royals’ glory years. George will still be a vice president, will still be involved and will always mean a lot to the city, but it’s not his team or Lamar Hunt’s team. It’s a community asset.”

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Putting the ‘Big Hurt’ on Pitching

Critics say expansion has diluted pitching, causing the offensive surge of recent years. So who are the best hitters since expansion began in 1961? A look:

ON-BASE AND SLUGGING LEADERS--1961-1997

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Player On-Base Percentage Player Frank Thomas .452 Frank Thomas Edgar Martinez .423 Mike Piazza Wade Boggs .420 Albert Belle Mickey Mantle .418 Ken Griffey Jr. Jeff Bagwell .409 Juan Gonzalez Jim Thome .408 Mark McGwire Barry Bonds .408 Hank Aaron Rickey Henderson .406 Barry Bonds Gene Tenace .404 Larry Walker Rod Carew .403 Jim Thome Joe Morgan .400 Mickey Mantle Mike Piazza .398 Dick Allen

Player Slugging Percentage Frank Thomas .600 Edgar Martinez .576 Wade Boggs .566 Mickey Mantle .562 Jeff Bagwell .557 Jim Thome .556 Barry Bonds .552 Rickey Henderson .551 Gene Tenace .542 Rod Carew .541 Joe Morgan .539 Mike Piazza .539

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