Paul Splittorff RIP

[Liut]

Passed away this morning. Splitt was 64.

 

[exmediahack]

Re: Paul Splittorf RIP

The news I have been bracing far. Good pitcher, super person.

Moddy: let's give Splitt that second F to end his last name.

 

[billikens]

Re: Paul Splittorf RIP

Such a sad story. He's one of those people I never met in my life, but still felt like I knew him. I've never heard anyone publicly or privately, utter a bad word about him.

He'd had some serious issues with his voice during the last three years, but until two or three weeks ago, almost no one, including many in the Royals organization, knew he was battling cancer.

 

[kingcreole]

Re: Paul Splittorf RIP

I swear he was doing Royals games a couple weeks ago. Seems surreal now that he's gone.

I was 7 when Splitt retired, but I remember he was one of my dad's favorites. I thought he was as solid of a broadcaster as you'd find.

 

[Liut]

Apologies. Depressing.

 

[Chef2]

I swear he was doing Royals games a couple weeks ago. Seems surreal now that he's gone.

I was 7 when Splitt retired, but I remember he was one of my dad's favorites. I thought he was as solid of a broadcaster as you'd find.

As I mentioned on the other thread, he was a great baseball broadcaster, but also did a helluva job on College Basketball as well.

RIP Split.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/25/2902340/royals-great-paul-splittorff-dies.html

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

 

[FreddiePatek]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

 

[YankeeFan]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

 

[FreddiePatek]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

Sure thing ...

After my father died, I was pretty depressed, so that following summer my mother put me in Marty Pattin's baseball camp to get the baseball fix I lost when my father passed. One day, Splittorff saw me in the cafeteria sort of sitting glumly and sat down next me. A lot of the Royals came to the camp since Pattin was, of course, a former teammate.

George Brett was there that day as well. Splittorff took a look at me and said "keep an eye out for George." He took a napkin and stuck it in Brett's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Brett ate half of it before he caught on, getting a pretty good laugh out of me. That got me a little out of my shell, so Splittorff asked me what was going on. Good man.

After lunch, during a rest period, he took me out on the field and showed me his trick. Without going into great detail, he taught me his pitching motion and the slider grip by using a sandwich-making analogy. It has stuck with me ever since. He was a good, good man.

My son is 5. One of these days, he's going to be old enough for me to teach him. I can't wait.

Wow. Telling this story is making me tear up, but lord, I'm also smiling. Thanks for asking, YankeeFan

 

[YankeeFan]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

Sure thing ...

After my father died, I was pretty depressed, so that following summer my mother put me in Marty Pattin's baseball camp to get the baseball fix I lost when my father passed. One day, Splittorff saw me in the cafeteria sort of sitting glumly and sat down next me. A lot of the Royals came to the camp since Pattin was, of course, a former teammate.

George Brett was there that day as well. Splittorff took a look at me and said "keep an eye out for George." He took a napkin and stuck it Brett's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Brett ate half of it before he caught on, getting a pretty good laugh out of me. That got me a little out of my shell, so Splittorff asked me what was going on. Good man.

After lunch, during a rest period, he took me out on the field and showed me his trick. Without going into great detail, he taught me his pitching motion and the slider grip by using a sandwich-making analogy. It has stuck with me ever since. He was a good, good man.

My son is 5. One of these days, he's going to be old enough for me to teach him. I can't wait.

Wow. Telling this story is making me tear up, but lord, I'm also smiling. Thanks for asking, YankeeFan

That's a really great story. You got me emotional reading it.

Thanks for sharing it.

 

[BNWriter]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

Sure thing ...

After my father died, I was pretty depressed, so that following summer my mother put me in Marty Pattin's baseball camp to get the baseball fix I lost when my father passed. One day, Splittorff saw me in the cafeteria sort of sitting glumly and sat down next me. A lot of the Royals came to the camp since Pattin was, of course, a former teammate.

George Brett was there that day as well. Splittorff took a look at me and said "keep an eye out for George." He took a napkin and stuck it in Brett's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Brett ate half of it before he caught on, getting a pretty good laugh out of me. That got me a little out of my shell, so Splittorff asked me what was going on. Good man.

After lunch, during a rest period, he took me out on the field and showed me his trick. Without going into great detail, he taught me his pitching motion and the slider grip by using a sandwich-making analogy. It has stuck with me ever since. He was a good, good man.

My son is 5. One of these days, he's going to be old enough for me to teach him. I can't wait.

Wow. Telling this story is making me tear up, but lord, I'm also smiling. Thanks for asking, YankeeFan

That's a neat story, Freddie. And from you telling it, it's wonderful that it has stuck with you all this time. How neat. RIP, Paul.

 

[FileNotFound]

Royals fans in the '70s and '80s were blessed by being able to root for some of the classiest men ever to play the game. Two of them, Splittorff and Dan Quisenberry, were taken from us far too soon. RIP.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Royals fans in the '70s and '80s were blessed by being able to root for some of the classiest men ever to play the game. Two of them, Splittorff and Dan Quisenberry, were taken from us far too soon. RIP.

Though my rooting interests lie elsewhere, I grew up in the midwest during their glory days in the late 70s/early 80s. They were indeed a classy group, though Splitt & Quisenberry were polar opposites in terms of their personalities - and not in a bad way. Still remember Quisenberry talking about being depressed after a bad outing and trying to drown himself in the shower.

Ewing Kaufman's organization knew how to build a team to appeal to a midwest fan base. They didn't really go for the flashy guys. Just good solid to great players. In a sense, the Twins are following that model.

 

[FreddiePatek]

Royals fans in the '70s and '80s were blessed by being able to root for some of the classiest men ever to play the game. Two of them, Splittorff and Dan Quisenberry, were taken from us far too soon. RIP.

Though my rooting interests lie elsewhere, I grew up in the midwest during their glory days in the late 70s/early 80s. They were indeed a classy group, though Splitt & Quisenberry were polar opposites in terms of their personalities - and not in a bad way. Still remember Quisenberry talking about being depressed after a bad outing and trying to drown himself in the shower.

Ewing Kaufman's organization knew how to build a team to appeal to a midwest fan base. They didn't really go for the flashy guys. Just good solid to great players. In a sense, the Twins are following that model.

It's kind of interesting to follow the youth movement model cycle: Royals to Braves to Twins to Rays back to Royals

 

[doubledown68]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

Sure thing ...

After my father died, I was pretty depressed, so that following summer my mother put me in Marty Pattin's baseball camp to get the baseball fix I lost when my father passed. One day, Splittorff saw me in the cafeteria sort of sitting glumly and sat down next me. A lot of the Royals came to the camp since Pattin was, of course, a former teammate.

George Brett was there that day as well. Splittorff took a look at me and said "keep an eye out for George." He took a napkin and stuck it in Brett's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Brett ate half of it before he caught on, getting a pretty good laugh out of me. That got me a little out of my shell, so Splittorff asked me what was going on. Good man.

After lunch, during a rest period, he took me out on the field and showed me his trick. Without going into great detail, he taught me his pitching motion and the slider grip by using a sandwich-making analogy. It has stuck with me ever since. He was a good, good man.

My son is 5. One of these days, he's going to be old enough for me to teach him. I can't wait.

Wow. Telling this story is making me tear up, but lord, I'm also smiling. Thanks for asking, YankeeFan

That is exceedingly cool. Thanks for sharing. And RIP Splitt.

I read the transcript of Bob Dutton's chat on the KC Star web site, and the team is going to honor him with sleeve patches with the word "SPLITT" on them.

 

[billikens]

He taught me how to throw a slider the summer after my father died. RIP, friend.

For real? Like in person or on TV?

If in person, tell the story.

Sure thing ...

After my father died, I was pretty depressed, so that following summer my mother put me in Marty Pattin's baseball camp to get the baseball fix I lost when my father passed. One day, Splittorff saw me in the cafeteria sort of sitting glumly and sat down next me. A lot of the Royals came to the camp since Pattin was, of course, a former teammate.

George Brett was there that day as well. Splittorff took a look at me and said "keep an eye out for George." He took a napkin and stuck it in Brett's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Brett ate half of it before he caught on, getting a pretty good laugh out of me. That got me a little out of my shell, so Splittorff asked me what was going on. Good man.

After lunch, during a rest period, he took me out on the field and showed me his trick. Without going into great detail, he taught me his pitching motion and the slider grip by using a sandwich-making analogy. It has stuck with me ever since. He was a good, good man.

My son is 5. One of these days, he's going to be old enough for me to teach him. I can't wait.

Wow. Telling this story is making me tear up, but lord, I'm also smiling. Thanks for asking, YankeeFan

Uh yeah, got pretty dusty in here during that read. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

That is a great story. Any kid who lost a father can easily relate.

 

[albert77]

I remember him being a very cerebral pitcher, a guy who beat you as much with his brain as he did with his arm.