George Bell made history in 1988 and Chris Browne was there. He had one of the best seats in the house, but you can’t buy the ticket. The seat was reserved for a select few.
These days, Chris Browne is the General Manager of the Kansas City T-Bones, an independent baseball team in the American Association, but he’s been around the game since the mid-’80s. He’s seen baseball history and worked alongside some of the greatest to ever play the game.
“I first ‘met’ these guys (as a fan, in my head) on my transistor radio every night from the late 70’s,” Browne says. “Then I got to work with some of my childhood heroes up close. To this day, many of these guys are like big brothers, uncles and friends. Brett, Wilson, White, Gubicza, Bud Black, Quirk, Pryor, John Wathan, Saberhagen, McRae, Otis, Quiz was a great friend, Seitzer, MacFarlane, Bluma…on and on.”
In high school and college, Chris was a bat boy for the Kansas City Royals, which is just about the best job you could hope for at that age. Among the notable things he witnessed was the performance of Toronto outfielder George Bell, who hit three homers against the Royals on Opening Day in 1988.
Bell was coming off a 1987 season in which he’d won the MVP by batting .308 with 47 homers and the winter didn’t seem to slow him down a bit. Browne was stationed down the left field line in a folding chair. It was a good view of a historic day.
“As a (Royals fan), I hated having to play catch with Bell in between innings after EACH homerun. My team was losing on opening day! Bell just smiled. I guess he could sense I was a little down in the dumps, but we had fun with it. He was a good guy. Toronto had good guys overall.”
A Baseball Life
Browne took his love of the game and turned it into a career. He studied Sports Management at the University of Missouri and began working for the Jacksonville Suns, a Double-A Mariners affiliate at the time.
Like many in minor league baseball, including the players, Browne made next to nothing and learned the game. A few years later he returned home, thanks in part to his Royals connections, and became the Assistant General Manager for an indoor soccer team called the Kansas City Comets. Browne got a tip about the position when the team was purchased by George Brett’s neighbor. A good resume is key to getting a good job but a recommendation from George Brett certainly helps too, especially in Kansas City.
When the Northern League’s Duluth-Superior Dukes moved to Kansas City in 2002 and became the T-Bones, Browne was the first person they hired. He served as Assistant General Manager for five years and General Manager until 2020.
Being back home and working in baseball again gave Browne the opportunity to reconnect with many of the Royals players he befriended in the 1980s. Those relationships have remained strong and he’s also had the chance to help the guys who helped him.
“I’m lifelong friends with them and talk to many of them on a weekly or monthly basis. It has been so rewarding to be able to return the favors for these guys when they call ME for some advice, job for their son, ask me to help them. They ask me, the bat boy? Who am I…?”
Among those Browne worked with on a regular basis was former Kansas City Royals All-Star Frank White, who is the T-Bones first base coach. When White parted ways with the Royals, Browne pounced.
“I wanted him wearing #20, staying in KC and creating memories for our fans and young kids, like he did for me on the radio growing up. Frank is the same guy he was when I met him when I was fifteen.”
Browne brought back Willie Wilson, Danny Jackson and other Royals alumni including some names familiar to only the most ardent Royals fans. When Browne was a 15-year-old bat boy, his locker was four spots down from bullpen catcher Bill Sobbe. Some thirty-odd years later, Sobbe is now the T-Bones hitting coach. Not only does Browne work with some of his Royals heroes, he’s also been able to help their families.
“George Brett’s son was a bat boy for me for several years here. Talk about life coming full circle! Jamie Quirk’s son worked as bullpen catcher and clubby…I could go on and on.”
Browne was hired as an executive with Perfect Game in late 2020 and currently serves as the Midwest Regional Director for the Kansas City office. Perfect Game is the world’s largest and most comprehensive scouting organization, with over 1,700 MLB players and more than 13,300 MLB draft selections.
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