Memories of Dick Howser

Dick Howser visits the White House in 1985. (Wikipedia)

By Ed Odeven
TOKYO (Oct. 13, 2014) — I don’t have incredibly vivid memories of the mid-1980s Kansas City Royals, but knowing that the late Dick Howser, their skipper at the time, had been a former New York Yankees player, coach and manager made him a pretty cool guy, I thought, even though I was a fiery supporter of the rival Yankees — following every game, whenever possible.

Now that the Royals are on a remarkable magic carpet ride of a playoff run, though, my mind flashes back to Howser’s battle with a brain tumor.

Having read in the newspaper and/or seen the news on TV that Howser was battling cancer, I remember writing a short letter to the ailing Royals manager, offering a few words of encouragement, and mailing it to Kansas City after looking up the address for the…