By Lee Warren for BPSports

Dayton Moore (right) talks to Omaha Royals' manager Mike Jirschele at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. - Photo by Lee Warren

Dayton Moore called it the toughest challenge in all of sports when he was named the general manager of the Kansas City Royals in 2006.

Who was going to argue?

The team hasn’t been to the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1985. The Royals have lost 100 games or more in four of the last eight seasons. They are a small market team that relies heavily on the draft, and for the better part of two decades, with only a couple of exceptions, they’ve had little to show from selecting near the top of the first round on a consistent basis.

Moore hasn’t been overseeing the affairs of the team for long, but he wants nothing more than to change the way Kansas City views its team.

“I’m very passionate about the Kansas City Royals,” Moore said from the dugout at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha recently before the organization’s Triple-A team began batting practice. “They were my boyhood team. I’m very passionate about baseball. I care deeply the people who work with us. I care deeply about the players who commit to be a part of this organization because it’s all about the players at the end of the day.

“I’m concerned about the impression that people have about the Kansas City Royals,” he continued. “I want every young boy and every young girl to grow up loving the Kansas City Royals. There is a generation of people who saw nothing but winning and now there’s a generation of people who have seen nothing but losing.”

With the losing comes criticism, and Moore has heard his share of it. And it isn’t solely based on the team’s won-loss record. Part of it is rooted in the players Moore has acquired. And at times, some of the comments attributed to him in the press have made him sound defensive about the work he is doing as the GM.

But he says his faith in Christ keeps him grounded.

“At the end of the day, they are not going to write books about me as a general manager or I’m not going to go down in history as the next Branch Rickey,” Moore said. “Fans like what you do or don’t do. It’s not about me personally, because I don’t believe most of the people who come to Kansas City to go to baseball games really even know who the general manger is, but there is a vocal minority. It’s a passionate fan base, but at the end of the day, my faith keeps things in perspective.

“We’re pretty blessed to do what we do, regardless of the pressures or criticisms, and you just want to use it as a platform to live a consistent life ... and you can’t live that consistent life, in my opinion, unless you have a foundation through Jesus.”

Moore says he draws closer to Christ in a number of ways.

“You’ve got to be in the Word routinely,” Moore said. “That’s important. From the music I listen to, to listening to sermons on the radio when I’m traveling, to reading daily devotionals [they are all important]. And just surround yourself with accountability partners you can call and express how you feel and what you are going through on a daily basis.”

Tim Cash, the Baseball Chapel leader to the Atlanta Braves, is one of the people he turns to. The two men have known each other for two decades and they became even closer when Moore worked in the Atlanta Braves’ organization prior to taking the GM position with Kansas City. Cash visits Moore three or four times a year in Kansas City and they talk on the phone routinely.

Moore says one of the reasons they hit it off so well is because Cash understands the baseball culture – having played Major League Baseball and having been around the game so long.

As Cash speaks about Moore, he speaks with a tone of brotherly affection.

“The one thing I admire so much about Dayton is, Dayton is definitely an intimate follower of Jesus – big time,” Cash said. “He has a very sincere walk, a very sober walk with the Lord. Dayton is a man of the Word. I hang out with him in spring training and he’ll have a couple of Bibles laying there and two or three different devotional books. He’s constantly pondering and meditating on God’s Word.”

Cash said that Moore is respected as a man of integrity, and that he sincerely cares about others. He knows people’s names, knows their stories and is quick to engage them in conversation.

“We walked into the stadium one day,” Cash said, “and one of the guys who tears tickets when you first walk into the main doors has a grandson struggling with brain cancer issues. And Dayton stops and calls the guy by name and says, ‘How are you doing?’ and he’s holding his hand and says, ‘How’s your grandson doing? We’ve been praying for him.’ And this guy just starts opening up.”

Last season, the grandson of then third base coach Dave Owen had some health problems and Cash says Moore gathered several men together to pray for him. Cash also points to Moore’s concern for former manager Trey Hillman when Moore realized he needed to make a managerial change.

“I love Trey Hillman,” Moore said at the press conference. “I really do. I love him as a ...”

Moore could not finish the sentence without dropping his head slightly and pausing for 27 seconds while attempting to regain his composure.

Later that night, Hillman was the epitome of class – taking questions from the media about the game his former team had just played. Hillman went on to thank nearly everybody affiliated with the organization, saying that sometimes difficult decisions need to be made.

Cash was with Moore later that night at Moore’s home when the phone rang. It was an NBA general manager calling to tell Moore how amazing it was to see the way Hillman and Moore handled the situation. Moore wasn’t even sure how the GM got his phone number.

“You know what brother?” Cash said to Moore after Moore hung up the phone. “The aroma of Christ leaked out in a very powerful way.”