Hey folks, welcome once again to There's Just Something About Kansas City.

And of course, this guy is Mr. Kansas City, George Brett, and he's got his eye.

Did I wear my appropriate top today?

Your wore your appropriate top.

Because I knew what the title of the show was.

It's about Kansas City so if you're listening and you're not watching, I'm wearing a white hoodie with Kansas City printed across the front.

Right across the front.

You love this city.

I don't think there's any doubt about that.

It's been good to me.

Yeah, it really has been.

And we'll talk about that as we go along.

You know, it was, we tried to get George in here a little bit earlier.

We had a little technical problem the first time around, but it almost was divine intervention.

Although I don't believe in a whole lot of divine intervention, but it was divine because we ended up delaying it for after, your, your great documentary on, MLB network.

And I just thought it was done great.

And I learned some things about you I had known before and knew about a few things, but not quite in the same, the same stratosphere, that some of those things ended up being for you and, and, and your brothers and, of course, your mom, Ethel.

But, it was I thought it was really well done.

And how would you think I talked to you afterwards?

And you liked it?

Yeah, it it's weird.

It's called Brett, by the way.

I get a call from Sam Mellinger, who works for the Royals now and used to be a great, columnist for the Kansas City Star.

And, I got a call one day and he said, hey, MLB wants to do a documentary on you because, you know, it's your 50th year since you broke into the major leagues and you're still employed by him.

And I think that's a pretty cool story.

So I said, sure, you know what, whatever.

And, so basically they came over to the house, talk to me for about an hour and a half, two hours.

And, then they came back about 2 or 3 weeks later and we went out to the stadium and shot some stuff out there.

And that night they came over to the house, we did a little barbecue in the backyard and interacted with my kids and and then they put it all together, you know, and I didn't know they were flying around talking to Reggie, Mike Schmidt, Robin Yount.

I didn't know they were doing that.

Reggie Jackson.

Yeah.

And, well, there's only one Reggie.

Well, that's true.

Okay.

And, you know what?

You know, Mr. October.

Whatever you got.

Who's turned out to be a really good friend of mine, but, and then, you know, some old teammates and stuff.

So it was, you know, I was a little nervous going to it.

It's almost like going to your own funeral because, you know, I watched the I watched the Yogi one.

Yeah.

Because Yogi was a good friend and and, you know, Yogi didn't get a chance to see it because as he always said, you know, I try to go to everybody else because if you don't go to theirs, they won't come.

They're not coming to yours, or you might outlive everybody.

Two there won't be you there anyway.

One of his greatest lines ever.

But, But it was.

I was flattered by it.

It really was a I saw footage that I've never seen before and and the home run off my brother and some of the interviews after the playoffs and stuff, and, you know, it was, I was I was pleased I was a little disappointed, in, in two things and never mentioned my mom once.

Right.

And really never mentioned my two living brothers.

You know, my brother Ken passed away years ago.

Talked about Ken.

Yeah.

Yeah, I talked about him because we had more in common and we were teammates and, for a year and a half.

But, I was a little disappointed that the my mom's name was never mentioned.

I know we talked about her.

Her name had to come up in a two hour interview.

Oh, Ethel.

Definitely.

There's no doubt she was mom, but she's on the editing floor right now.

Yeah.

All and all, I was happy with it.

I was very happy.

And of course, Ken, we lost Ken.

Right?

I think it was wonderful the way you and your brothers took care of his widow and the kids.

you know, once he he had passed.

And just to make sure she was, she was okay.

And things are going to, you know, work out for her.

She's doing fantastic.

She's living.

She's she, remarried a guy from Sweden, I believe Gunnar.

I think he's from Sweden, but he has a home in Sweden, in Switzerland.

And they, they love to travel.

And then they do.

They spend probably five months a year in Sun Valley.

She's got, a nice home in Sun Valley.

And, they spend some summers there, and they spend part of the winter there, too.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it's been, it's been great.

Yeah.

Yeah, she's been doing great.

Yeah, I think that I think that was awesome.

Not that I wouldn't think you wouldn't, but just because you brothers were so close and just.

Sure always did everything like that.

To me... We were partners in everything we do.

Yeah, right.

Everything we do, it's like my brother will come up with this idea.

Let's buy a baseball team.

And then he'd say you want in, and you want in, and you want in.

Great.

Let's buy another team.

You want in, you want in.

And so we're partners and basically everything that we do.

Yeah.

So if one brother says no, is it that he does that.

Oh he doesn't.

But the rest of you would?

Well sometimes!

The other too much.

Sometimes I'm not.

I mean, I don't know, he my brother has a ranch up in Idaho.

I don't on any of that.

Yeah.

You said you on in and and I was in for a while, but I didn't like the way it was being run.

We had no toys and it just, you know, one time my brother said something to the effect of, I said, my kids want to come up.

Well, they can't come unless you come.

You're with them.

I'm going to.

What are you talking about?

You know, let's be realist.

Yeah.

So, my brother John, got bought out, and so he just said, you know what?

You can come use it whenever you want to.

Stupid.

I use it all the time.

You live in Kansas City.

It takes me a day to get there.

I'm going to fly someplace.

And then you get on another plane to Spokane, and then you got to drive an hour from Spokane.

It's up in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Right?

It's it's Coeur d'Alene,, a half hour from Spokane.

And if you go past Coeur d'Alene, another half hour..

It's in the little Idaho peninsula.

Yeah, but it is a beautiful piece of property.

We got, I think, three miles of the Coeur d'Alene river run right through it.

And it's it's it's fun, but there's really not much for me to do out there.

You know, you go fishing once in a while.

my kids, when they were there, they did a long.

We took them way upstream and they floated back down.

And then we picked them up at a certain time.

Yeah, but it's, it's it's a beautiful place.

It's just a hard place to get to.

Yeah.

And my brother John, now, he he summers in, he summers in Coeur d'Alene.

Yeah.

He has a place up there.

And then he lives in Palm Springs area in the winter.

It's nice.

Yeah.

He so he's got a good life, too.

Yeah.

Y'all do?

Yeah.

Except for Bobby.

He just.

He likes you work.

He likes to work.

Refuses.

My brother John and I like to play golf.

Yeah, it's all right.

But you went to work, and it wasn't just a fluke that you became who you became.

And the big name for you was Charlie Lyle.

Yeah.

I mean, that was.

That was a big name.

Your your batting instructor.

Yeah.

He was, he was probably more instrumental in, in my career than anybody.

You know, I was I hit .125 my first stint in the big leagues in 73, 74 at the All-Star break, hitting 200.

And he just said, hey, like, I haven't seen you make any adjustments yet.

I said, Charlie, I really don't know what adjustments to make.

I'm just hitting the way I've always hit.

He said, well, it ain't working.

He says, you want to you want to be able to.

I think I can help you, but you're gonna have to give me your heart and soul.

And I did.

Changed everything about my swing.

Moved me off the plate.

Got the bat parallel to the ground I used to hit like Yaz, Because I love Yaz, Yastrzemski, Charlie said you're no Yaz.

You're no Carl Yastrzemski.

You got a... We got to find something that works for you.

And we went to work, we went to work, and we hit every day, and and all the sudden, I started getting some hits.

I started gaining more confidence.

And the more confidence you have, the easier this game is to play.

And, I maintain that confidence.

Basically, my whole career.

And the rest is history at that point.

Yeah, but he also worked on you mentally as well.

Sure.

Well, well, you just never be satisfied, you know?

Don't be content.

Never be content.

You know, he he always told me, he says the difference between a .250 hitter and a .300 hitter is a guy that hits 250, will get a hit his first at bat, and end up going one for four.

Right?

A guy that hits .300 gets a hit his first at bat, he gets a hit a second at bat, he gets one third that bat Because some days you're going to go zero for four Yeah, sure.

Some days it's just going to happen.

You get hit three balls on the nose and and strike out once and you go 0 for four.

You could have four balls on the nose just right at people.

And, he really instilled in me sometimes I'd get frustrated, I'd get frustrated, and all he would tell me is, hey, you up one job.

Your job is to hit the ball hard.

Yeah.

If they catch it, so be it.

And I remember hitting coach, I. I had that talk with some of the guys in 13 on the Royals.

They were they were a little frustrated because they weren't hitting.

And I remember going up to Mike Moustakas one time and he was yelling and screaming, and I said, Mike, you got one job.

All your job is to hit the ball hard.

And he hit a rocket.

The guy never even moved in center field, and he came in.

He was throwing his helmet and cussing up and down.

And I went over and he basically said, leave me alone.

So I said, okay.

You know, that's You get frustrated.

I know you believe me.

I know you don't want to hear it.

Yeah.

You don't want to hear.

I don't want to hear it.

Yeah, yeah.

But but but having you there, I think to me, if I were a young player and I know all of them didn't do this with you, even though you've been with the royals, you know, for 50 years.

the, you know, situation where there's George Brett, Hall of Famer, three different decades, batting titles, you know, whatever.

He's sitting right there.

Go ask him a question about hitting.

You know, if you're having trouble go ask him.

And the kids nowadays just they don't do that do that.

That was that was about what the launch angle stuff was.

Oh yeah.

That's the analytics.

I was you know, I was not I'm not a launch angle guy.

And so we didn't hit it off.

I mean, my theory, my theory on hitting didn't, didn't, add up with what the guys back then were doing.

But I just tried to bring a mental approach to hitting, you know, then I knew I couldn't convince anybody.

Right.

about it.

I was always concerned, you know, we had, Alex Gordon.

Alex Gordon always practices.

It takes all this practice links.

And I love Alex as a person.

I think he was a great player for the Royals for many years and soon to be Hall of Famer.

But I just I and I asked him and he just said this is his routine and but I never understood the routine.

But he would take all his practice swings and batting practice and everything with two hands on the bat.

And then the game starts.

He'd take one off.

Eric Hosmer would, would, would do it the opposite.

Every swing and batting practice he would take would take his top hand off after contact to get extension through, and then the game would started leaving both on, and I would always ask these guys, why don't we practice the way we play?

Exactly.

Don't you think that would make it better?

And they will said, well, that's my routine.

I said, okay, you got me.

Gosh.

But they were they were both had great years.

And, you know, sure.

That that always boggled my mind.

Yeah, I just it was always there.

And you're sitting there and I'm just going these guys, they have no idea.

Yeah.

The asset is sitting in the dugout with you the whole time.

He's in spring training with you the whole time.

And then.

Then he's up in the booth the whole time.

He's just right upstairs and he's down in the clubhouse after the game is over.

He's right there.

I just it always boggles my mind.

The other thing that that, came out pretty poignantly in the, MLB.

Brett the doc who was your father?

And obviously how I always knew your dad was tough on you.

And because we had we we had talked about it in the past, but I never knew how tough or how brutal that was with you and your brothers and your mom having to grow up with your dad the way he was when you were growing up.

And, to me, it was amazing that everybody in that family could overcome that situation with your father.

Yeah.

And I think that is to me, that's just phenomenal, especially the way you are now, you and your brothers and your mom.

Had you broke that cycle, you know, which is that cycle where where he was abusive to you guys.

You could have been abusive to your kids or your wife or anything along the line, but it just it just didn't happen.

All of you guys broke that cycle, which I. Yeah, well, I just think it's phenomenal.

Yeah.

It's, you know, just think it if, when, when all my brothers were at home and I was, I was the youngest.

So let's say JB leaves when he's 19 years old.

so Ken would have been 17, Bobby 15.

I would have been 13.

Right.

And and then so JB leaves.

I still have two brothers at home.

And the next thing you know, Ken Lee's day after he graduates high school and goes and plays baseball, for the Red Sox.

Now it's just me and my brother Bobby.

And then Bobby goes to college.

Now it's just me and, and it was, I mean, there were times at dinner I didn't say a word.

Just me, him and his mom.

I just sat there.

I wouldn't say a word.

I was afraid that I was going to get yelled at Or say the wrong thing.

And, I'll tell you what a bad person he was.

After he retired, we.

Or what a bad husband he was.

After he retired, we took him out to dinner.

My parents got divorced, about five years after I graduated high school.

because they wanted they moved to Manhattan Beach from El Segundo, and they wanted.

Okay, let's let's just move over there and maybe we can rekindle everything, get out of the house.

And and so, me and my brothers were going to throw him a party for, when he retired from work, and so he said, no, I don't want a big party.

Let's just go out and have dinner with my boys.

So four of us go to a little Mexican restaurant that we all love, Paco's Tacos in Westchester, and we go there and he said, hey, I got to come clean with you guys.

Okay.

What's that?

That, you guys, have a brother that lives up in, up in upstate New York somewhere.

Oh, wow.

Oh.

That's weird.

Yeah.

So then he dies in 92.

I go to the funeral and I see some gal there, and she's talking to my mom and my brother Ken.

and so I walked up and I noticed at the church that, you know, she was taking my death, my dad's death, pretty hard.

And so I walked up to her.

I said, hey, I don't know who you are.

Did you work with my father?

And my brother Ken says, George, this is your, sister.

You're half sister.

Oh, I go what?

What are you talking about?

Well, dad, and she was probably five years younger than I was.

Okay.

And then.

So this is after the move from New York?

Yeah, in West Virginia.

Now you're in El Segundo, and now we're back in New York again.

Evidently, my dad like to play the piano.

Who knows?

He wasn't very faithful to my mother.

Yeah.

And then she says, yeah, I have another sister.

So that's two.

That's three I have three.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

So that's a bad husband.

Wow, that's a bad husband.

Wow.

And let's let's end it at that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

But but again, I do commend you and your brothers.

Yeah.

For overcoming everything.

And Ethel, of course, she was just lovely.

That, well...My mom, my mom knew she couldn't raise four boys by herself, so she just stuck with it.

Yeah, she knew what the hell was going on.

That's what she going to do?

Yeah.

What are you going to do?

Yeah, she's got you four run around and you were the last one there.

What was he in?

Just.

Was it tougher on you because you're the youngest, the last one at home?

I'm not going to belabor this point.

I'm just saying was there it was was there a favorite?

Was there one who didn't take a whole lot of grief?

And the other three are going, come on, dad, come here.

Bobby not much.

Kenny didn't take any, I don't think.

Okay.

He didn't take any because he was a perfect kid.

He was a great student and a great athlete and he didn't get any trouble.

My brother John and I got in some trouble.

My brother Bobby, he got in a little bit of trouble, but not much.

He was a better student than my brother John and I, and he was a great athlete, great basketball player, great baseball player.

Yeah.

And, so, you know, I think JB got it.

The worse I got it, I got it the second worst because because I was the only one at home.

You're the last one.

Yeah.

I was, there were times when, you know, There was no one else to take it out.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

So.

Okay, like I said, congrats to you and your brothers for stopping that, that vicious circle.

Let me ask you a question.

If the baseball thing.

It's crazy because you always played baseball.

Well, if you hadn't been drafted in, the baseball thing didn't work out.

Is there anything you think you would have been or somebody you would have been otherwise?

I know you do all these things.

You got a lot of personality and I know you didn't go to college or whatever.

I don't think that that bothers you, especially the way your life ended up.

But the deal would it was there something else that George Brett, if you ever sat down, thought about?

My God, if I wouldn't have played baseball, what in God's name what happened?

I don't I have.

No, I never thought about that.

My brother John had a really, successful, building company.

His construction company?

Yeah.

He built, you know, track homes.

He'd build 150 of them at a time.

I probably would have been one of those guys working for him.

Who knows?

Yeah.

God, I just.

Yeah.

I'm just thankful that baseball did work out because the the the great quote my mom told me one time is my mom and dad were having dinner and I wasn't home and they were talking about me.

This is when all my brothers are gone.

And I might have been at a practice, or I might have been out and they the two of them are home and they go, poor George, he's probably going to live with us the rest of his life.

is that a great line?

Yeah, that is that line.

That is an awesome line.

And the other one is superstitions.

How many superstitions did you have?

I know, I know athletes, I have superstitious, I have I really I didn't, you know, stepping on the line as you go out...

I can't remember what I did the, the the day before.

If you, if you stepped on a line tonight, hit someone and get three hits or.

Oh my God, I can't do it.

I got one over four that day.

I didn't have anything like that.

But the one thing that I always did, I always during the national anthem, and I've done this my whole life, ever since Little League, I would say the Little League pledge.

I trust in God.

I love my country and will respect its laws.

I will play fair and strive to win.

But win or lose, I will always do my best.

I would say that to myself every time I heard the national anthem.

In fact, every time I hear the national anthem, to this day, I say it.

Do you still say, do you say it out loud?

No.

Okay.

Just say it to myself.

Right.

Well, still said and so you were and all that is.

It just makes you feel like you're a kid again.

Sure I have.

So you know.

Yes.

That's a great thought.

Yeah, it just it just made baseball fun.

Gosh...

I trust in God, I love my country and will respect its laws.

I'll play fair and strive to win But win or lose, I will always do my best.

Yeah, that is just, It's incredible.

You also said, I'm not too serious about anything.

No, I thought that's a great.

I think that's one of your best quotes.

I try not to be serious about anything.

The more serious you are, the more stress you put on.

And.

And stress causes heart attacks.

Yeah.

You know, we don't need it.

You stay.

You stay in good shape.

Stress.

Stress also causes hemorrhoids.

I felt like 1980.

Why me?

Why not Joe McGuff?

Why not Joe McGuff.

I remember that.

And the other thing that, I've got to give you credit for and something that you've always done, you've always given back to this city.

Okay.

With ALS.

Yeah.

he did.

He even did PITA with the dogs and, dogs in hot cars, right?

You were, you know, with the you support the military, you've done the podcast with people.

You are still you're still as well known really today.

And I know you don't think so, but you're almost as still well known today.

That's why MLB will come out with a documentary while you're still alive.

George Brett.

Is he still around today?

You know, 50 years there to be in there.

And just the idea that you have given back so much to this community that you have gotten a lot out of, but there's a lot of people just walk away and it's fine.

I gave them all I could give them, and I'm Brian, but you never did that.

No, I stuck around.

I mean, like, I got I'm still one of Sarah soldiers, you know?

Sarah, my girl Sarah now.

Yeah.

Yes, with ALS.

In fact, we're doing something this year.

They're having a big dinner.

I think it's in March.

I think it's during spring training.

I'm going to fly home for it.

But, they're doing a big dinner for ALS, a fundraiser for ALS, and, it's going to be.

It's going to be a good one.

It's going to be a good dinner we used to have that night, I hope I remember.

And then it was always during spring training and spring training, and it was hard for me to leave.

But this year they're going to do one because I've had, I think, 40 golf tournaments for ALS now.

Yeah, I think I had my 40th one and unfortunately I got a co-partner now, In Tom Watson.

Yes, because he lost his caddie Bruce Edwards to ALS.

And Tom's kind of said, hey, I'm going to do what I can to help find a cure and to make people's life more comfortable that get this disease because it is the most stupid, deadliest, ugliest disease that you could get.

And and I'll, I'll never I have met probably 200 patients over the course of my being involved, you know, and and 198 of them are dead.

Right.

And the quality of their life was the last six months, a year, five years is terrible.

Right.

However long it lasts.

Takes away everything but your brain.

Yeah, yeah.

You're trapped.

Right.

And and there's other diseases like Alzheimer's.

your whole body works, but your brain doesn't.

Right.

So, I mean, it's crazy, but, so we're going to do, they're going to, do a nice dinner, five auction items.

So it's going to be, from what I understand, it's going to be a really, really good time.

That's what you and Tommy are doing now.

But I think one of the things that gives people the courage to do it, and the inspiration to do it, is the fact that you and Tommy are involved as well.

And I think that gives them not hope, because like you said, it, it just it's a death sentence, but it gives them a reason to live.

Yeah.

And I think that I think that's one of the most important things that, that you guys have done.

And I just think that's great.

So.

So, Tommy, Tommy's done a tremendous job.

He does.

And you know he went to Stanford and and you know, we'll go at our conference at our, golf tournament.

And we always do a little news conference.

And, you know, they say Colleen, the president of the ALS chapter, will get up and say a few words, and then they'll ask Tom some questions, and all of a sudden Tom will say, well, they have this new gene or this new drug, and it's called so.

And, you know, I can't even say I try to go to Stanford.

I try to reorder my medication that my cardiologist has been taking, and I got a call up, but I go, well, What is this?

I'm just going to give you the number, you know, the number on the prescription label.

Yeah.

And he's he's got the name and he does all the scientific.

But Tom.

Tom really studies it.

Yeah he does.

He's he's real involved with it.

So yeah my hat goes off to him.

Hey, I appreciate your time today.

Okay, pal.

You're a good man.

I love you.

I've known you since 81, and I told Tom this, too, when he was in here.

And I wrote you a little note when I retired from TV.

I said, if it wasn't for you, And, Tom, I said, accepting me.

And I know you guys never had a problem with the press.

That wasn't the deal.

It was just accepting me.

This guy coming in from the outside and accepting me.

Yeah.

No, you thought it was going to be thrown stuff at you like Santa Clause.

half the time.

But it was, Yeah, it was it.

I thought it was interesting what Mike Schmidt said in the documentary about how he how how different we were.

Oh yeah right.

You know, how I embraced everybody.

And he was like this.

Yeah.

You don't want to see anybody from Philadelphia.

You know what but if... but if Mike Schmidt would have played here, he might have been right embracing everybody.

And if I would have been in Philadelphia, I might have been like this or New York.

Yeah.

Or Boston, any of those.

You don't know.

But but this is obviously I think it's a lot easier town to play in Kansas City than Philadelphia.

Boston, I think, would be pretty good, even if you're not even if you're having a bad year.

I think they stick with you a little bit.

But Kansas City, I think when you compare Kansas City, the people.

And I'll tell you another good thing about this town, I don't know anybody that's not involved with some type of charitable work.

And all my friends back home, back home that I grew up with, I don't know anybody that is involved in any charity, charity work, you know.

Yeah, but that's that's Kansas City.

Yeah.

And that's why you know, I wear these a lot.

I work Kansas City, right.

You know, I don't wear royal stuff, but I'll wear and I love the Charlie Hustle.

I a lot of times I wear the a hoodie like this with the heart on it with KC.

Sure.

I wear those all the time.

I think I got every color and, just happy to be if I'm really happy just to say, you know, people, hey, where do you live?

I live in Kansas City.

The city is so honest, and I, I'm going to try the, the girls team.

I want to go see.

Oh, yeah.

I want to go see that at the Current KC.

Current.

Yeah.

Brand new stadium in the, yeah.

It's first major long.

Yeah, they bought my old house.

Yeah, yeah.

They've done a great job with that team.

Unbelievable.

Finance.

All that stuff by themselves.

Yeah.

And then everything they're putting in there is local.

All the food, all the booze, all the beer, everything they're putting in that stadium for concessions.

They're all local companies.

I just think they just have boy, they're Big enough to fight.

Their vision.

I'm not sure about that.

They better.

People won't go.

Yeah, well, you can probably smuggle a little bit in yourself, but that's, That's it.

Yeah, but but I think anybody who thinks about Kansas City, I think one of the first people, they think about George Brett and, always have.

And even the guys in 14 or 15, I know they're, you know, he got Moose and, you know, the Hosmer, you know, Alex and the whole deal.

But I just still think you are mister Kansas City.

Not just from baseball, but from everything you've done.

Your two kind., You're good man.

Thank you sir.

And folks, that's why we say There's just something about Kansas City There's just something about it.

Thanks pal.

When you figure it out, let me know.