Terrance Gore, who is in playoffs for fifth time, had his career saved by Mike Sweeney

The Major League Baseball playoffs begin Friday, and once again former Royals outfielder Terrance Gore is taking part.

The New York Mets announced their roster for the first-round of the playoffs, and it includes Gore. This will be the fifth time he’s on a postseason roster in the last nine seasons. And that doesn’t include 2020 when Gore got a World Series ring for playing with the Dodgers.

It’s one of three World Series rings Gore owns, along with the ones he received with the 2015 Royals and 2021 Braves.

One day after Atlanta won the title, a fan on Twitter congratulated Gore and marveled at how his career nearly ended, were it not for Mike Sweeney, the Royals Hall of Famer.

Gore responded on Twitter: “Very true story. He saved my baseball career. We need more people in this world like the Goat himself.”

A year later, Gore’s gratitude to Sweeney hasn’t faded.

“Yes, he did, 100%,” Gore said this week. “A lot of the credit goes to Sweeney for the Terrance Gore career path. A lot of it.”

When contacted this week, Sweeney spoke about that fateful day in 2014.

“In my role with the Kansas City Royals, I mentor guys on and off the field,” said Sweeney, who rejoined the franchise earlier in 2014 as Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. “So I came in to Wilmington, Delaware, and I grabbed maybe five or six guys and ask if they wanted to go get a steak lunch before a game.”

Minor-league ballplayers are paid peanuts, so naturally all agreed to join Sweeney, including Gore who was in his second season of professional baseball. They made the 15-minute drive from Frawley Stadium to Firebirds Wood Fired Grill on Churchman Road in Newark, Delaware.

Getting personal

Sweeney asked the players to go around the table and share a little bit about themselves. When they were all done, Sweeney chastised the the group.

“No disrespect to anything that you guys said,” Sweeney told the players. “But I could have looked up your Wikipedia page and found out everything that you just told me. I really don’t care what round you were drafted. I don’t care where you went to high school or what your batting average was last year.

“I want to get to know who you are so that I can mentor you to help you be the best man and the best ball players that you can be.”

Sweeney shared the best three things he had going on at that time, along with the hardest thing he ever had to go through in his life.

The players loosened up and shared about the highs and lows, and Sweeney said there was a lot of compassion and empathy among the group.

When it was Gore’s turn, he put his head on the table.

“I’m gonna go into our skipper’s office this afternoon,” Gore said, “and I’m quitting baseball.”

A stunned Sweeney asked: “What do you mean you’re quitting?”

Gore said his wife told him a few hours earlier that she was pregnant.

“I can’t provide for her and the child that I literally found out about this morning. I’m gonna have to go home and try to find a job back in Macon, Georgia,” Gore said, as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Last night was my last game playing professional baseball.”

Sweeney put his face in front of Gore’s as he wiped away the tears.

“Terrance, you are not going to quit on your child,” Sweeney said. “Someday your little boy or little girl is gonna say that my daddy played in the big leagues.”

The tears returned to Gore’s face as he replied: “Well, I’m hitting .220 and I’m in A ball.”

A resolute Sweeney said, “Terrance you have a gift from God to run like the wind and you are not going to quit on your son or your daughter. You’re not going to quit on your future wife. You’re not going to quit on your teammates. You have a gift that will get you to the big leagues, and I’m not going to let you do it.

“I know maybe you didn’t have a father in your life that told you that you’re good enough, but I’m here to tell you that you are.”

Things turn around

Gore readily admits he’s not one who easily shares his emotions, so he was surprised he broke down in front of Sweeney. When that lunch was over, Gore headed back his hotel in Delaware and reflected on what he should do.

“I just turned off all the lights and went to bed,” Gore said. “Before I went to sleep, I thought about what I need to do and I just sat back and talked to myself in my mind. Something kept telling me to keep going. ...

“When I expressed how I was feeling to Sweeney, it was kind of weird because I’ve never done that. But something tells me I did that for a reason. And so I told Sweeney I would finish out the year, but there’s no certainty of what I’m going to do that following year.”

Gore’s fortunes soon turned. When the Royals moved into playoff contention, they promoted Gore from Single-A to Triple-A Omaha in August.

With the Storm Chasers, Gore stole 11 bases in 17 games and was called up by the Royals when rosters expanded. He became an instant fan favorite and a base runner opponents feared.

That speed made Gore a valuable asset in tight playoff games where he could steal a bag or take an extra base better than nearly anyone in Major League Baseball.

Gore appeared in the 2014 World Series, then got his first ring the following year after Kansas City beat the Mets in five games.

Both playoff appearances meant a postseason shares, essentially a huge bonus. Plus, Gore got the MLB insurance package which paid for the hospital bill when his son, Zane was born in January 2015.

Three years later, Gore was back in the playoffs with the Cubs, then appeared in the divisional series for Atlanta last fall.

And he’s back again, hoping to add a fourth World Series ring to his collection, this time with the Mets.

In addition to Zane, Gore’s wife gave birth to a daughter, Skylyn, in August 2019.

A few weeks ago, Gore was with his his family when his wife asked Zane to name his favorite ball player. Gore was expecting to hear his son say Freddie Freeman, Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon or another strapping big leaguer who had played with Gore.

“He said, ‘My dad.’ And once he told me that,” Gore said, “I just melted.”

That prediction from Sweeney eight years earlier when Gore was at his lowest point of his professional career had come true.

“I hate being away from my family when I’m working and traveling with the Royals, but moments like that give me immediate feedback that the job that I’m doing is worth what we’re doing,” Sweeney said. “We’re changing lives and changing the trajectory of people’s careers and lives.

“I’m just grateful that God brought me to Wilmington, Delaware, that day that Terrance Gore found out that he was having a baby because if I was there a day later, Terrance may have just went back home and started working back in Macon, Georgia, and the world wouldn’t know of one of the fastest guys playing who is in the playoffs for the fifth time.

“It was one of the greatest, moments in in my life.”