It was Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, in the midst of a series finale with the Seattle Mariners, when umpire Gerry Davis struck up a conversation with Royals first-base coach Mitch Maier.
“Wait ‘till you see this kid,” Davis said.
A day later, the Los Angeles Angels were scheduled to make the trip to Kansas City, and Davis, a 35-year veteran umpire, offered his early impressions of the Angels' prized offseason acquisition, Japanese rookie Shohei Ohtani.
“He’s coming in here, right? Wait ‘till you see him,” Davis said. “He’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”