Garth Brooks Arrives at Royals' Training Camp

Kooperman · February 25, 2004

Brooks Arrives at Royals' Training Camp

Tue Feb 24, 6:45 PM ET

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Garth Brooks (news) gets his hits in country music, not in baseball.

"The guys have told me not to quit my day job," Brooks said Tuesday, his first day of spring training with the Kansas City Royals.

Brooks, 42, was invited to the Royals' camp to raise awareness for his Teammates for Kids Foundation, which he founded in 1999.

He previously attended spring training with the San Diego Padres in 1998-99, and the New York Mets in 2000. He is 1-for-39 in exhibition games, his lone hit a single off Mike Sirotka of the Chicago White Sox in 1999.

"It really wasn't a hit," Brooks said Tuesday. "It was a bleeder that had eyes on it."

Brooks learned quickly that pitchers are not going to throw a batting practice fastball down the middle when he is at the plate.

"None of these guys want to give up a hit to me," Brooks said. "The first pitch I saw with the Padres was 90 miles per hour. On the second pitch, I started swinging when the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher."

Brooks said his foundations have raised more than $40 million for children's charities. The baseball division is called Touchem All.

"This is so much more than Garth Brooks, so much bigger than I could imagine," Brooks said.

And what if the Royals offered him a baseball contract after spring training?

"I can't stand the pay cut," he said with a laugh.

Brooks' locker is stationed between relief pitchers Curtis Leskanic and Jason Grimsley, the two biggest needlers on the Royals' roster.

"They've already started," Brooks said. "I'll be lucky if I survive four weeks with those guys."

Manager Tony Pena playfully tossed Brooks out of the clubhouse when he held a meeting with the pitchers and catchers.

Pena said he does not want Brooks' presence to be a distraction to getting his team prepared for the season — and Brooks, too, said he does not want a circus atmosphere surrounding him and does not want to do anything to embarrass Major League Baseball or the Royals.

Brooks was on the track team at Oklahoma State, where he threw the javelin. He is listed as a switch-hitting outfielder in the Royals' media guide.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...a_royals_brooks