Only 10 players in Royals history have managed to hit a home run on the sport’s biggest stage. I’m sure everyone reading this remembers half of those 10, as they happened in the 2014 and 2015 World Series (Omar Infante, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez in 2014; Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon in 2015). You might also know that Willie Aikens had a monster World Series in 1980, belting four homers. He was joined by Amos Otis, who hit three, and George Brett that year. And in 1985, Frank White opened up the crucial third game with a long home run. The Royals were homerless in the next three games, and the first inning of Game Seven, when Darryl Motley stepped to the plate with a man on and one out.
Darryl DeWayne Motley was born on January 21, 1960, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He didn’t stay an Okie from Muskogee very long, though. Motley went to high school in Portland, Oregon. As the back of this card notes, he was a three-sport star there, and the Royals drafted him in the second round of the 1978 draft, one spot before the Yankees drafted future teammate Steve Balboni.
Although his first full season in the minors was a struggle, Motley adapted to Class A ball in 1980, hitting .303/.359/.462 in 32 games. That got him promoted to Class AA Jacksonville, where he hit .319/.370/.495. When Motley hit .288/.328/.488 as a 21-year-old for Class AAA Omaha in 1981, he jumped to top prospect status.
Balboni, who had walked, took a cautious lead off first base. Cardinals starter John Tudor, who had held the Royals to one run in 16 2/3 innings to this point, fired a fastball towards home plate. With the count full, Tudor didn’t want to walk another hitter. But this pitch was a little too good, right over the middle of the plate and letter-high. Motley put a good swing on it, and the Royals Stadium crowd roared as the ball flew toward the left-field corner. But Motley had been just a touch too quick on his swing. The ball curled foul and disappeared into the seats.
Motley made his major-league debut in August of that 1981 season, but hit just .232/.276/.312 in 42 games. Over the winter, the Royals traded for outfielder Jerry Martin, and suddenly Motley’s path to Kansas City was blocked, with Amos Otis and Willie Wilson holding down the other two spots. Perhaps disheartened, Motley had a poor spring training, then hit just .254/.302/.372 in 1982 as he spent the entire season at Omaha. To make matters worse, the Royals apparently thought so little of him after that that they loaned him to Detroit. Motley spent almost all of the 1983 season there, although his hitting did improve to .281/.333/.458. The Royals brought him up at the end of the season and he hit .235/.264/.441 in 19 games.
Motley had done a sort of Carlton Fisk dance down the line, hoping to will the ball fair. But it didn’t work. Frustrated, he slammed his bat down on the Astroturf. Walking back to the plate, he noticed a slight crack in the bat handle. But this bat felt too nice. He got back in the batter’s box and prepared to hit. But a little voice in his head reminded him of what teammate and professional hitter Hal McRae had told him: never hit with a cracked bat. Motley ignored the voice for a second, then thought better of it and called time. The bat boy gave him a choice of a light bat or a dark one. Motley picked out the dark one and stepped back in.
The 1983 season, of course, was a mess for the Royals as a franchise. Not only did they have a losing record and finish 20 games out of first place, they were rocked by a drug scandal that saw four players serve time in jail. Suddenly they seemed both old and unlikeable. It was time for a youth movement.
Motley was a big part of that, earning an Opening Day start with a good spring training. Playing regularly for the first time, he hit .284/.319/.441 and finished third on the team with 17 home runs. The Royals rebounded from that ugly 1983 season to capture the AL West title. Although they were swept in the ALCS, 1985 looked promising for both Motley and the Royals.
Tudor kicked and fired again. The pitch came in straight, once again headed for the heart of the plate, although this one was knee-high to the stocky Motley. The black bat flashed through the cool air, making solid contact with the ball. Left fielder Tito Landrum headed for the left-field corner again, the second time in two minutes. But he could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed past the foul pole and landed about halfway up the seats, in the midst of a throng of extremely happy Royals fans.
But Motley struggled as the 1985 season started. He hit just .188/.253/.333 for April, then .220/.226/.390 in May. The offense was struggling to score runs, and when the Royals acquired Lonnie Smith in mid-May, Motley’s starting spot in left field was in trouble. Smith was the catalyst the Royals needed, while Motley became the right-handed hitting half of a right-field platoon with Pat Sheridan.
Although it might not have been fun for Motley to play less, the platoon paid off in the short term as he hit .306/.327/.551 in June. But he batted only .230/.254/.393 in July, and .220/.259/.500 in August, appearing most often as a pinch-hitter. As you can see from the slugging percentages, he was at least contributing some pop to a Royals’ offense that certainly needed it. Of Motley’s 25 hits in July and August, over half went for extra bases: seven doubles, one triple, and five home runs. That continued in September; as the Royals reeled in the division-leading Angels, Motley hit .200/.245/.379. But again half of his 19 hits were extra-base hits (five doubles, four homers). He ended the season with a .222/.257/.413 line, 20 doubles, and 17 home runs in 408 plate appearances. In a different time when slugging percentage is more appreciated, that season would look better. Not great, but not bad for a platoon player.
Motley knew when he hit it. He immediately dropped the bat and ran to first base, both arms raised above his head. He circled the bases, punctuating his trip with a few small fist pumps, and crossed home plate to put the Royals ahead 2-0. One pitch into the next at-bat, he gave in to the crowd’s continued cheering, popping out of the dugout for a brief curtain call.
Motley played sparingly in the ALCS against Toronto, as the Blue Jays featured hard-throwing right-handers like Dave Stieb, Doyle Alexander, and Tom Henke. But St. Louis depended on the left-handed Tudor, who started three times in the Series. Motley played in five games, getting the start all three times Tudor took the hill. Motley hit .364 for the Series, collecting three hits in the deciding Game Seven. Oh, and he caught the final out of the game, too.
Sadly, that would pretty much be the last hurrah for Motley’s major league career. He hit .203/.241/.350 for the Royals in 1986, then was traded to Atlanta. He would appear in just 11 games over two seasons for the Braves, although he continued to bounce around baseball as a minor-leaguer. Motley obviously loved playing, as he would go on to play in Japan, Mexico, and even independent leagues in the U.S. before finally retiring in 2002 at age 42. Counting his time in the minors before he reached Kansas City, Motley played 25 seasons, which sounds like a pretty good life to me. His career might not have beenas spectacular as he wanted, but he will always have a place in Royals’ history.
Darryl Motley’s best games of 1985:
4/19 @ DET: Homered and singled twice, scored three runs in 9-2 win.
6/28 vs. CAL: Had three hits, including solo home run, in 5-4 win.
7/14 @ CLE: Went 3-3, scored two runs and drove in one in 9-5 win.
8/8 vs. DET: Went 3-5 with a double and scored a run in 10-3 win.
8/13 @ BOS: Cracked three-run homer in 6-3 win.
About the card:
Pretty standard shot of a baseball player, although I always appreciated getting a look at a hitter’s stance. Looks like there’s a Montreal Expo in the dugout behind Motley, so this must have been taken in spring training. The back of the card is pretty unremarkable, isn’t it?