KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royals reliever Ryan Madson was in a real jam.
Standing on the mound, he realized he had the wrong glove. He meant to wear a mitt with son Luke's name stitched on the thumb. Instead, this one said "Sean" — the boy's younger brother.
"It threw me," he said. "I didn't know what to do."
Then a funny thing happened.
"Luke is stubborn, in an I-can-get-this-done way. I pitch like that," Madson said. "Sean is happy-go-lucky, a loverboy. Seeing Sean's name put me in a different mindset. It relaxed me. I did well, got a couple of strikeouts.