Kelly's Westport Inn and Kansas City Baseball Vault Present: Mike McCartney and Elliot Johnson

Kansas City Baseball Vault

While snow fell in Kansas City, the Royals were busy getting spring training underway and taking the field against the rest of the Cactus League. We did our best not to overreact to the action so far, but did discuss Luis Mendoza's potential as a starter, John Lamb's comeback and velocity (as well as that of Noel Arguelles) and Alex Gordon's day off. Then we welcomed the voice of Kauffman Stadium to the show. Mike McCartney's a name you might not know but if you get to see the Royals at home, you'll know his voice. We caught up with him to talk about the All Star break, his philosophy behind how to work within the game and the crowd in calling up a player, what he does with the weird names (and we tested a few with him), and what it's like to work at the ballpark all summer. After a brief interlude to talk about the Chiefs and their search for a quarterback (we try not to go there unless it's a big story), we talked with Elliot Johnson, the newest Royal in camp. Johnson shared a lot about his climb towards the big leagues, including the disappointments of being kept in the minors, bad timing, and his dustup with Francisco Cervelli (and he had a nice take on the overreaction to that 2008 collision). He also talked about the leadership the Royals should expect from former-and-once-again teammates James Shields and Wade Davis as well as his adjustment to a new clubhouse and coaching staff and playing every position on the diamond.