KC Royals: Thank you for everything, David Glass

As the former and longtime owner of the KC Royals has passed away, it’s time to thank David Glass for all he did for the club over the years.

After Ewing Kauffman’s death in 1993, the KC Royals seemed to be without direction. Their identity was lost. David Glass was the one to officially put the pieces back together when he purchased the club in 2000. Over the next two decades, he’d go on to play a major role in plenty of memories made by the franchise, its coaches, players and, of course, fans.

Glass would go on to sell the team to now-owner John Sherman for roughly a billion dollars, over ten times the amount he originally paid for it. While he was excited to watch the new era of Kansas City Royals baseball to be ushered in, his declining health sadly took a turn for the worst. The club announced on Friday that Glass had passed away the week before:

Regardless of whether or not you were a fan of Glass, it’s incredibly saddening to hear about the passing of such an iconic figure in Royals history. From the beginning of his tenure as owner until the very end, he had a smile on his face and cared deeply about his team.

Some will point to his frugal nature, something that is still plaguing Kansas City today as Sherman has taken over in year one. Others will claim Glass wasn’t worried about putting a competitive product on the field, instead choosing to save money and bank on in-house talent to play well. Those worries were extinguished when he brought current general manager Dayton Moore aboard 14 years ago, as it ended up being his best move as owner.

Moore helped make the necessary draft selections, trades and free agent acquisitions that ultimately culminated in the form of back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015. When the KC Royals won the championship in 2015 and had one of the best parades in the history of the city, Glass was forgiven by many of his doubters.

Hopefully, that forgiveness will remain and turn into respect. Instead of griping about what Glass didn’t do or could have done as an owner, let’s be thankful for what he did do. Together, we all endured the worst years in the history of Royals baseball. It paid off during the best years. Glass was right there with us, every step of the way.

David Glass was not a perfect owner. Then again, no one’s perfect. Everyone has their flaws, but passion and effort are two of the most admirable traits an owner of a sports team can have. Glass had both, and it showed up until the day he passed. On behalf of the staff here at Kings of Kauffman, our deepest condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Glass family as they grieve the loss of a great man.