On an August night in 2002, Mike Sweeney stood on third base, his neck craning toward the first-base dugout. He wanted his manager’s attention. He needed his blessing.
It was the bottom of the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals were tied 1-1 with the New York Yankees. It was a Wednesday night in another lost season.
Moments earlier, Sweeney had smoked a double to right-center, scoring Carlos Beltran from second and tying the score. Now there were two outs. Sweeney stood at third. And the left-handed hitting Aaron Guiel was at the plate, facing vaunted Yankees starter Andy Pettitte.