John Mayberry stories ...

When I was a kid in the 70's, John Mayberry was this hulking, power hitting first basemen for the some great Kansas City Royals teams. I came across a couple of great stories about Mayberry when he was younger and more recently doing a promo caravan for the Royals. Kansas City Star | 01/28/2007 | The Royals caravan runs on fans’ hope: "John Mayberry road story: When Mayberry was a young player, he said there was not much religion in the clubhouses. Oh, the players then were probably as religious then as any other time, but you just didn’t see many signs of it. As he started getting older, though, Mayberry noticed more and more Bibles in players’ lockers. He asked Frank Howard, the former slugger, “Why are there so many more Bibles around these days?” Frank Howard said: “John, that’s the split-fingered fastball. Make a believer out of anybody.”" Kansas City Star | 01/28/2007 | The Royals caravan runs on fans’ hope: "The caravan was in Arkansas, at Baker Elementary School, and 400 kids sat on the floor of the gymnasium. They shrieked when Sluggerrr danced, and they applauded for DeJesus and Gathright and Picollo. Then Big John was on the stage. “What advice would you give these kids?” Royals director of public relations Lora Grosshans asked. “I’ll give you the same advice I gave my own son,” Big John said. “And it’s this: When you play baseball, be sure to get your uniform dirty.” "