Denny Matthews has spent a lifetime behind a microphone, but there was a stretch when his future with the Royals looked a lot less permanent.
The voice of Kansas City baseball is now 83, has called 8,002 Royals games and plans to keep going through the 2027 season. He also picked up the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford Frick Award.
But last week at Kauffman Stadium, Matthews made clear that none of this was guaranteed early on. In fact, after only his third season, the Cubs had already come calling - more than once.
“I had a chance to go to Chicago after my second year, and they flew me into Chicago, and we talked and had lunch and they made a nice offer,” Matthews said. “And I thought, ‘No, I’m not ready for that.’ Well, they called the next year, and I went back up there, and another nice offer, a better offer maybe.”
For Matthews, an Illinois native who grew up between Chicago and St. Louis, the pull was obvious.
As a kid in Central Illinois in the late 1950s, he lived on baseball broadcasts, soaking in the sounds of Cubs games in the afternoon and Cardinals games at night. Back then, he said, a career in broadcasting wasn’t even on his radar.
“I could listen to the Cubs in the afternoon. No lights (at Wrigley Field) at that time,” Matthews said.
“And then I could hear the Cardinals at night. Broadcasting at that point in my life wasn’t even a twinkle of a thought.”
But as he got older, the dream started to take shape. The Cubs and Cardinals were the jobs he imagined himself landing someday. And after those early offers from Chicago, it looked like the Royals might lose him.
Instead, a conversation with Ewing Kauffman changed the whole path.
“I was still a little bit intimidated by Mr. K, but he ... said you’re going to have other opportunities, and you’re going to have decisions to make as you work your way through this business, and he said, you have to weigh them carefully, and then you’ll make a decision,” Matthews recalled.
“He said, ‘We like the way you do the games, and you can stay here as long as you want.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, this is just after my third year, so that’s pretty strong.’
And again, there was no reason for me to move because I was very comfortable. I love the city, I love the organization and everybody in it.
And if you’re unhappy in your job, you’re probably looking to move. I’ve never been unhappy in my job.
Period. So here we are, 58 years later.
But I had no idea. Chicago, St.
Louis, oh boy, let’s go. That’s my dream job.
Still is. I could still do it.”
That line drew laughs in the Mike Swanson Interview Room, and it fit Matthews perfectly: the longevity, yes, but also the easy humor that has helped define his place in the Royals’ booth.
Kauffman’s approach, Matthews said, matched the way the franchise operated. The owner cared about wins, but he also cared deeply about who was in the building.
“Ewing Kauffman was very stern about one thing: if we get a bad apple, whatever, in front office or in the clubhouse or on the coaching staff, if we have a bad apple, he’s not going to be here very long,” Matthews recalled. “And Ewing Kauffman made that promise, and he was right. And we’ve had great, great people around this organization.
“It’s the people that count, and all in all, that’s why I’m still sitting here instead of being in Chicago or St. Louis or Cucumonga.”
What nearly became a short stay in Kansas City turned into a 58-year run, and Matthews still sounds like a man who’s not done yet.
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