In John Sherman, the Royals have a curiosity-driven owner who embraces Kansas City

In John Sherman, the Royals have a curiosity-driven owner who embraces Kansas City
By Alec Lewis
Nov 27, 2019

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick felt his phone buzz. Busy man he is, giving tours of the museum that preserves baseball and American history, Kendrick rarely sprints to answer a call. But as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and read the contact, John Sherman, he knew this time he had no choice.

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Sherman, of course, was the 64-year-old Kansas City businessman leading an ownership group that had agreed to purchase the Kansas City Royals. Kendrick had known Sherman for some time, having interacted with him over the years at charitable events in the Kansas City community. Kendrick had even given Sherman and Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan a tour years ago.

Still, Kendrick was unsure why Sherman was calling at this time and on this day. So he answered, thinking it was possible one of Sherman secretaries might be on the other line. That’s not the way Sherman rolls, though. Sherman was calling for a specific reason. He wanted to personally invite Kendrick to the Tuesday press conference introducing him as the new majority owner of the Royals.

“For him to take the time to call me last week and ask me to be at the press conference,” Kendrick said, “you can only imagine what that means.”

Kendrick was speaking personally and professionally. Not only was he honored to be invited to a pivotal turning point in Kansas City sports history, but he was also excited for what it meant about the future of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, what he and many believe is an enormous asset to Kansas City and to the Royals.

Sherman confirmed the belief (among many others) Tuesday during his introduction, speaking on a podium alongside Royals general manager Dayton Moore, manager Mike Matheny and senior vice president of business operations Kevin Uhlich. The day had been months in the making after The Athletic had first reported former owner David Glass was discussing the sale of the club to Sherman, then a Cleveland Indians minority owner and vice-chairman.

After the reported $1 billion transaction became official Monday, the introduction day finally occurred.

“I appreciate this opportunity to come out of hiding,” Sherman said jokingly.

He had for months remained quiet, awaiting the official approval from Major League Baseball owners, who voted in Sherman last week. He had not answered questions about what he thought about analytics, what he would do to the payroll or how he viewed his role. On Tuesday, he did in front of family and part-owners such as Kansas State alumnus Paul Edgerley, who also owns a stake in the Boston Celtics, and even actor Eric Stonestreet.

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“I’m an investor,” he said. “These guys (Dayton and Mike) are baseball professionals. Every day, I’m trying to learn more about the game so I can help them be successful. Our role is to understand what the objectives are, make sure we have really good people to carry them out, and then find out where we can help and allocate resources at the right place at the right time to help us field a competitive team on a consistent basis.”

A desire to learn defines Sherman’s curious nature, one that struck Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation chief executive officer Wendy Guillies when she first met him. A want to surround himself with good people is a quality that struck former neighbor and Kansas City-based attorney Perry Brandt, whose daughter went to school with Sherman’s. A cerebral nature is a quality that Husch Blackwell partner and friend Adam Sachs has marveled at for years.

Kansas Citians will have the chance to see these qualities up close as the days and months pass. They’re qualities that have developed during Sherman’s 40-plus years as a Kansas Citian himself.


So how did this happen? How did Sherman’s purchasing the majority stake in the Royals come to be?

The process began this past January with a conversation among Glass, Moore and Uhlich. At the time, Glass had decided he was ready to sell the team. He wanted Moore and Uhlich to know Sherman was the best-case scenario. Sherman not only lived in the city but also contributed to numerous city stalwarts such as the Kauffman Foundation, the National World War I Museum and the Truman Presidential Library Institute.

By March, Glass was ready to reach out to possible ownership candidates. So one day, he dialed from his Fayetteville, Ark., number. Initially, Sherman did not pick up.

“At my age, I’m a big target for these scammer robocalls,” Sherman said, laughing. “They tend to all come from Arkansas for some reason. At best, they’re trying to sell me a Medicare supplement at this point.”

Sherman was in Goodyear, Ariz., that day, meeting with Cleveland Indians baseball operations staffers who were outlining their plan for the upcoming season. Minutes after the call, he left the team’s compound and walked over to the ballpark to watch a split-squad game against the Milwaukee Brewers. When he arrived at the suite, where he had talked baseball with The Athletic’s Peter Gammons, he pulled out his phone and noticed he had a voicemail from the Arkansas number.

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David Glass had called casually, asking Sherman to dial at his own convenience. Sherman stepped out of the suite and called Glass back.

Here’s what Sherman recalls hearing from Glass after the call connected: “John, I wanted to give you a heads-up. My family has decided to sell the team. I don’t know if my timing is right with Cleveland, but you would be my first choice.”

Sherman finished the phone call and thought about going back to the suite, though he couldn’t immediately. Not yet. He was surprised and caught in somewhat of a mental whirlwind. So he walked a lap around the ballpark.

In baseball, people often talk about the gods, who may or may not pull the strings behind the action in ways that tug at the hearts of others for reasons that cannot be explained. Life is in many ways similar. Some people are put in positions that sometimes do not make sense. Such is the role of being human.

Five years before the conversation with Glass, Sherman, having divested control of the energy company built upon years of studying and watching and reading, wanted his role to revolve around sports and business. He discussed the possibility with Edgerley. Sherman was a Kansas City Royals fan who owned season tickets for years. So along with the Edgerley conversation, he also reached out to Glass, who told Sherman he was remaining with the Royals for the time being. Glass did, though, suggest he enter the baseball sphere, if possible.

In 2016, Sherman purchased a stake in the Indians.

From there, he began to learn about the baseball business, one that surprised him in its cerebral and creative nature. Meetings with Dolan, with the Indians’ baseball operations department and with sports psychologists showed Sherman more than he could have imagined about the game he had grown to love in Kansas City.

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He learned about analytics and wants to continue.

“Everybody talks about analytics,” Sherman said, “but that’s kind of a given. You’ve gotta have the data. How you use the data, whether it’s in-game decision-making, lineup construction or the thing that seems to be at the leading edge right now — the technology, biomechanics, sports science and behavioral science.”

He learned about how to handle payroll and wants to continue.

“I think in this business if you’re in a small market, you have to be willing to lose money at certain times to be competitive,” Sherman said. “… “If one player is not going to move the needle on this team right now, we’ve got to build some other things up.”

He learned about buildings things up, specifically players and pitchers.

“When you have a whole bunch of good pitching, get some more,” Sherman said. “That’s both in the rotation and in the bullpen.”

The learning led to Glass’ call and ultimately Sherman’s walk. Days of thinking about giving up his Indians stake and corralling a group to purchase the Royals alongside him led to months. But it happened. When the report of sale conversations first surfaced, one of Sherman’s four kids was flying back from Los Angeles. On the plane, the conversation was largely about Sherman.

“That guy is going to move the team!” someone on the flight said.

Sherman’s son remained quiet, but the conversations continued. Finally, Sherman’s son spoke up.

“No, he’s not going to move the team!” he said.

“How do you know?” they responded.

“It’s my dad!” he said.

Eventually, the strings of life led Sherman’s business in baseball back home. Now, he has an aspiration to return the Royals to the winner’s circle.

“As much fun as I was having in Cleveland, this was kind of a generational opportunity and very compelling to do it in my hometown,” Sherman said. “That didn’t happen in a day by any means. I had great partners in Cleveland. They were really great people to work with and for. But this was a special opportunity here.”


Sachs remembered eating lunch one day a couple of years ago on the South Plaza with Sherman and a special guest: former Royals World Series champion Frank White.

“I sat and listened,” Sachs said, “while Frank and John spent about 45 minutes digging deep into the intricacies of the game of baseball.”

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When Sherman decided to buy the team, one of his first tasks was sitting with general manager Dayton Moore and this time not talking but listening.

Sherman had known Moore for what he had built from the depths of the 2006 Royals to the peak of the 2014-15 Royals. One night almost a decade ago, Sherman held a charitable event at his house. Moore was there, speaking with attendees. During a conversation with Sherman, Sherman’s wife, Marny, approached and asked Moore what he did for the Royals.

“I said, ‘He’s the general manager!’” Sherman said.

Sherman has been so in-tune with all things Royals that, in 2014, with the Royals in the World Series, Marny caught him up one night watching a game on his phone while their family was on a trip to Europe. She looked him in the eye and told him to go back for Games 6 and 7, which he did.

“The 2014 and 2015 seasons, that was magic,” Sherman said. “It’s what makes you hungry to get back. The baseball gods have to smile on you. You’ve got to have some breaks. But the magic of October baseball and what it does for fans in a community is pretty special.”

How Sherman can ignite the magic once again is the challenge, one he will assuredly embrace these next few weeks as he eases into his role and attempts to gather more of a feel for the organization and its the culture.

Then there will be ideas to ponder, such as a new television contract, which will allow more payroll flexibility, Sherman said; free agency, which could provide an opportunity for the Royals to fill some roster (bullpen) holes; and then the possibility of a downtown stadium, which Sherman said his associates will discuss and assess.

“I’m very, in my thinking, kind of logical, pragmatic, analytical, certainly in my businesses,” Sherman said. “It’s interesting, another thing about baseball and a hometown team, you think of yourself as pragmatic and analytical. There’s also a passion and kind of a heart of a fan when you get involved in this business.”

Maybe that’s true, especially when there is so much money tied up in ownership. But there’s something to be said about a man who owns and now operates a franchise that is synonymous with the town he calls home, a town that has made him the man he is.

(Photo: Jason Hanna / Kansas City Royals)

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Alec Lewis

Alec Lewis is a staff writer covering the Minnesota Vikings for The Athletic. He grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and has written for Yahoo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Kansas City Star, among many other places. Follow Alec on Twitter @alec_lewis