KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A few weeks before I started at The Kansas City Star in June 2013, I was getting acclimated to the Kansas City sports scene when I read of Royals manager Ned Yost’s rant in Oakland about the struggles of young Mike Moustakas.
Asked by The Star’s Bob Dutton if he planned to stick with Moustakas, who was hitting .189 at the time, Yost responded thusly:
“You know what? Maybe when we get home I can go to the third base tree and pick another third baseman. … Obviously, third basemen who can hit and hit with power, they must grow on trees. They’ve got to. Like relief pitchers. And starting pitchers. Right fielders. Left fielders. First basemen. All of these guys must grow on trees, and you must be able to just go get another good one. A ripe one. Make sure it’s ripe.
