Post-Game
Press Conference
September 22, 2025
Tony Muser, Royals Manager
Courtesy: KMBC-TV Kansas City
"Tony, tonight we saw yet
another amazing performance out of Mike. Do you feel that he's being
overlooked by the public?"
"Hell yes, I do. I mean, look at the guy. He might hit .400 this year. And all you guys care about is that clownshit Rodriguez getting his uniform dirty to make a catch that he has to take three steps for -
...I'm sorry. I'm not talking about you guys. You're local guys, you're here, you know how good Mike is. But the media outside of this city doesn't care. A .400 hitter out of Kansas City isn't exactly on Major League Baseball's agenda, you know?"
"Are you suggesting that there is a conspiracy working against your players?"
"Yes! Yes I am! Mike has busted his ass for, what, five years now. He's already one of the best players ever to step on the diamond. But the media doesn't give a rat's ass. They think they know what America wants to see, they think they want a bunch of drugged-up overrated shitheads who give each other hugs when one of them breaks a record. They think they want to hear about a team full of overpaid pussies winning World Series rings and getting paid more in one year than I will in my whole life. Baseball used to be about the underdog and the idea that playing your best would always guarantee you a shot at the big time. It's not that way anymore, and that cocksucker Jeter gets more fame than Mike will ever get because he wears a uniform that my players would jump off a cliff before wearing, and I'm goddamned sick of it, and baseball is in a sorry state, and it's the media's fault, and Stuart Scott can go fuck himself."
"Is this a response to his allegation that you were 'Muser' than the other side of the pillow?"
[laughter throughout the room]
"You know what? We're through.
This is over."
[END OF TRANSCRIPT]
"There were a lot of conspiracy theories going on by the time I was hitting .400," Sweeney remembers.
"[Manager] Tony [Muser] called me into his office before the final day of the season. I figured that maybe I was in trouble for something. So I go in there, and he asks me, 'Mike, what do you think of all this .400 jazz?'
"I was really taken aback. I mean, Tony's a pretty hard-nosed guy, he's not the type to just sit there and shoot the breeze with his players. I thought about it, and I just told him that I thought it was something I was very proud of, and that as long as Ted Williams knew I hit .400, I'd be happy. Tony just sort of smiled and looked at the floor. It was the first time I had ever seen him smile and mean it.
"Then he said something I'd never forget. He said, and I remember this exactly -
'Mike, you know as well as I do that I'm not going to be around here a hell of a lot longer. A manager does not stay a manager if his team doesn't win. That's why you need to stay here. This team is made up of a bunch of young guys that don't have a lot of years on them, and maybe they don't know what it means to be a Royal. And I know it might not be fair to you, because I know you haven't been in for more than a few years yourself. But someone's gotta stick around, Mike. Someone's gotta whip their asses and remind them that they are Kansas City Royals, and that they're wearing the uniform that George Brett used to wear, and Willie Wilson used to wear, and Frank White used to wear. And that every time they step on the field, they'd better win, and if they don't win, they'd better play their fucking asses off. You stay here till the end, Mike. Till the very end. Till the bolts fall out of your knees and you can't play first base anymore. And I promise you that, by the time it's all over, you'll get what's coming to you, and the world will remember the Kansas City Royals again.' "
Sweeney takes a moment to wipe his eyes. "He didn't have to tell me all that, I had always felt that way." He exhales a cathartic laugh. "But I sure was glad to hear someone else say it."