Royals’ Michael Massey gives inspirational message as Midway opens new youth facility

When Kansas City Royals rookie second baseman Michael Massey flew in this week for an appearance at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Cleveland, Missouri, he didn’t really understand the significance of his presence at the event until he arrived at the Midway School and met some local residents.

Massey, an Illinois native who grew up just outside of Chicago, put his jersey on over a hooded sweatshirt and represented the Royals at the ceremony unveiling new ball fields and taking part in an MLB Play Ball clinic for local youth.

More than 300 students looked on as Massey began to speak. So, too, did an assortment of teachers, parents and local community members who played a part in the “Bring it home” campaign to create baseball, softball and T-ball fields.

The Midway Youth Support Organization won one of four nationwide grants offered by the Scotts Field Refurbishment Program to help make possible the three-field complex possible (baseball, softball, T-ball). The Scotts grant provided an influx of $50,000 to the fundraising efforts, to which Royals Charities added another $10,000 this week.

Massey admitted to the crowd that he had a scripted speech he intended to give.

Instead, he went off-script a bit and spoke from his heart about having to overcome his own struggles as a high school player; a shoulder injury early in his collegiate career that left him temporarily unable to throw; a freak injury that wiped out a summer of playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League; and a serious back injury that left some organizations skeptical about his ability to play professionally.

“Coming in, I thought it was just Major League Baseball and Scotts supplying (the fields project),” he said. “Then I realized when I got here that Major League Baseball and Scotts were helping it and aiding it,” Massey said. “The majority, the bulk of the work, was by the people in the community and the town.

“Just to see their effort to put this together for the kids in the community — and how much they value the kids being out here and getting this opportunity — I felt like I owed them a little bit more.”

After Massey spoke at the lectern during the ceremony, a few students grabbed him for autographs and pictures.

“I think growing up, at times, I had this false reality of what a major-league player was or what a professional athlete was,” he said, “and it really can set you back, because you think you’re further off than you actually are.”

As he continued, nearby students in grades kindergarten through high school started taking part in baseball games and drills.

“I think when you realize that professional athletes and baseball players and guys at the highest level, they all go through similar stuff and they have those doubts and things in their head but they work through them — it’s encouraging for kids to hear,” Massey said. ”It’s something that certainly has been relevant in my career with the amount of setbacks I’ve had.”

As Massey recognized almost immediately, the project holds great importance for a community that had long desired to establish its own high school baseball and softball programs. The Cass-Midway Vikings will begin their inaugural seasons as MSHSAA-recognized teams this coming spring.

According to the Midway Youth Support Organization, more than $300,000 has been raised for the project through fundraising and donations.

The ribbon-cutting at the new fields represented the completion of Phase 1 of the project. Planned additions include a concession stand, bathrooms and disability accessible sidewalks.

The Scotts Field Refurbishment Program has donated to 31 fields in 18 states over the past seven years. The Midway field complex is the first in Missouri to receive the grant.

A memorable season for Massey

After the opening ceremony, Massey spoke to The Star and reflected on a season that started with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, included his major-league debut in Toronto, Canada, and finished with him playing regularly as part of the new young core of the Royals’ big-league club.

The conversation with Massey touched on a range of topics. Here are a few.

On the experience/lessons of the 2022 season:

“It was wild, it really was. I remember talking to my dad at the beginning of the year. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m starting at Double-A. I’m just going to see what happens. I don’t know where it’s going to go. Maybe I’ll be in Double-A the whole year.’ The best case scenario I remember talking about for the season was you go to Double-A for half the year and Triple-A for half the year.

“What it taught me a lot was to almost forget about expectations. I’m starting to learn that with the expectations that it’s either I set them and press too much to get there and put too much pressure on myself, or I limit myself at times. I’m going to come up with my process of what I know breeds success and follow that and believe in it.”

On something he couldn’t really appreciate, or understand, about the majors until he got there:

“It was really eye opening that first week in Toronto. For so long, you’re in the minor leagues. It’s about winning, it really is. But there’s the elephant in the room, too, of we’re all trying to get to the big leagues. And it’s not hidden in the way organizations do things. It’s like, ‘Hey, I’m going to get this guy his at-bats. He needs to play this position. This guy needs to pitch on this day.’ It’s tailored to development. Then when you get to the big leagues, it’s just a little bit of a 180 where you’re right to ‘win.’ Everything is win, win, win. That was something you could only learn that intensity at the big-league level.”

On the offseason focus set forth in his recent season-exit interview:

“First and foremost at the plate, my ability to kind of shrink my zone a little bit. I’ve always been a guy who likes to swing the bat. I like to hit, but at the same time I’ve got to make sure I take pitches that are out of the zone. In the big leagues, it got exposed a little bit. I became susceptible to chasing pitches out of the zone. Then they just took advantage of it. So cleaning up that part of my game.

“Then defensively, I think with the shift going away I’ve got to improve my range. I’ve got to be able to get a first step, take better angles and become a little bit more athletic.”

On manager Mike Matheny’s firing on the final day of the season:

“We found out for sure when the news broke like everyone else. Everything was up in the air. We didn’t have many meetings. Everything was kind of laying low. We found out like everyone else. It was a shame. It really was. I really liked playing for Matheny. He was just a good dude. He cared about you, cared about players on the field and off the field. Unfortunately, that’s just the business we’re in. There’s turnover all the time. It’s just part of the game. But I’m excited for the new staff and getting to learn from those guys too.”

On his initial impression of new manager Matt Quatraro, and stuggling with Zoom:

“Funny story. We had a Zoom call with him. I’m so bad with technology that I was on the Zoom call, but my audio didn’t work. So I’m sitting on a Zoom call with the guys on the team. It’s (executive vice president and general manager) J.J. (Picollo) talking and Quatraro talking. So a pretty important meeting to be on, and I can’t hear because my audio is not working. I ended up just sitting there listening in silence for like 30 minutes because I didn’t want to be the guy who texted, ‘Hey guys, I can’t figure out my audio because I’m an idiot.’ So I ended up calling Vinnie (Pasquantino) after and he filled me in.

“But Q reached out and we had like a 10-minute conversation on the phone, just get to know each other a little bit. I’m assuming most of that will take place at spring training. It was cool that he reached out. I don’t know much about him. Obviously, I looked him up and know what everyone else knows. I’m just excited to get one-on-one or get in a learning environment with him and see how he can help us win.”