Inductees

When longtime Kansas City Royals scout Art Stewart talks about his 60 years in baseball, it’s like flipping through a scrapbook of old black-and-white photos. The stories are almost too hard to believe, and yet you can listen for hours.

This is a man who has scouted every Kansas City Royals player from rookie ball on up to the big leagues since the team’s inception in 1969. For 14 seasons, he served as the Royals scouting director, the one who drafted the athlete of all athletes, Bo Jackson. And even these days, at age 88, Stewart still scouts, often meeting with the Royals manager to talk about reports and strategy.

“I had two pretty good ones,” Stewart said of his mentors, New York Yankees scouts Tom Greenwade and Paul Krichell. Greenwade, posthumously inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, was a Willard farmer who signed Mickey Mantle. Krichell signed Lou Gehrig. “Greenwade said, ‘Keep your mouth closed and your eyes open.’ And he gave me the best piece of advice – never leave the ballpark early.”

What a career it’s been for Stewart, now part of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s induction Class of 2016.

As a Special Assistant to the General Manager, Stewart has been a key figure in the Royals’ resurgence, which led to Kansas City winning the 2015 World Series and American League pennants in 2014 and 2015.

Before joining the front office, he was the Royals’ Midwest scout for 16 years. Stewart was scouting director from 1984 to 1997, drafting more than 70 players who reached the big leagues. Among them were Jackson, Kevin Appier, Mike Macfarlane, Brian McRae, Mike Sweeney, Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran. He then served as Special Senior Assistant to the General Manager.

Stewart was raised in Chicago and, because he earned more money coaching semi-pro baseball, turned down minor league contracts from former big-leaguers-turned-scouts in George Sisler and George Moriarty, once a teammate of Ty Cobb. “My dad died when I was 4,” Stewart said, “and my mom was doing everything to keep the house.”

Because 28 of Stewart’s semi-pro players signed pro contracts, the New York Yankees hired him. He spent 17 seasons with New York (1952-1968).

Among his first big discoveries was a 6-foot right-hander, found because Stewart struck around at a high school ballpark after a starting pitching prospect was scratched, leading 20 scouts to head elsewhere. “I got to the parking lot and remembered what Tom Greenwade said, and turned around,” Stewart said. “All of a sudden, I heard this smack, smack, smack in the right field bullpen, and here’s this kid warming up.” It was Jim Bouton, eventually a 21-game winner for the Yankees’ 1963 World Series team.

Stewart challenged himself by joining the expansion Royals. In his first two years, he signed two players who helped Kansas City win its first AL West title in 1976, Tom Poquette and Tom Bruno.

Stewart’s favorite scouting story is Jackson, his fourth-round selection in 1986. No one knew for sure of Jackson’s intentions to play baseball, given the Heisman Trophy winner already was the No. 1 pick of the NFL Draft and had turned down contracts from the Yankees and Angels. In fact, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner reportedly fired a scout after the Yankees drafted Jackson 50^th overall in 1982, only to be snubbed at the contract table.

To Stewart, Jackson was a true scouting success story. The Royals’ area scout in the South, Kenny Gonzales, had earned the trust of Jackson’s mother over the past seven years. It led to Jackson’s agent, on draft day, calling the Royals and saying Bo would play baseball only for the Royals, who were naturally nervous to waste a high draft pick. “If we don’t sign him, we (scouts) won’t be here next week,” Stewart recalled.

Ultimately, Stewart trusted the work of his scout, selecting Jackson in the fourth round, with the 105^th pick. “I told our guys in the room, if we draft Bo and we don’t sign him, the franchise won’t fold,” Stewart said. “When it was announced, the draft room in New York was like a morgue.” When Jackson was introduced back in Kansas City, his mother rushed up to Gonzales and gave him a big hug – in front of owner Ewing Kauffman.

“Mr. Kauffman turned to one of the other owners and said, ‘I guess that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?’” Stewart said.

In 2008, Stewart was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame and the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame. He recently authored a book titled, “The Art of Scouting: Seven Decades of Chasing Hopes and Dreams in Major League Baseball.”

“It’s always been a great organization,” Stewart said of the Royals. “There were some lean years after Mr. Kauffman died, but I think it was capped off this year with the World Series.”