I entirely agree. he added substance to the broadcast. He didnt sugarcoat every paly to make it look great.........plus they will propably hire jeff montgomery to take his place. Listening to him when he filled in was brutal.

ROYALS FRONTOFFICE ARE IDIOTS FOR THIS. Also got rid of Producer Kevin Shank. I wonder if he fought to keep Frank, so they canned him too. Thought he ran a very good program.:cuss:

Yeah, regardless of his broadcasting skills, this was a TERRIBLE PR move. If they wanted him off the air that badly, they really needed to find a way to come to an understanding with him.

They better hope the Royals start winning this year with moves like this.

Here is who the Royals did dirty. Saw this on the comments of Mellinger's article.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/02...#ixzz1fUwR3UyI

The other thing: if you're going to make a move as potentially controversial as firing a local legend, you have to have the balls (and foresight) to speak about the move publicly. Give your reasons and side of the argument and you might go a long way to quelling public backlash, since most fall into the 80%.

True. Their silence implies they were hoping it would just blow over. I think they are underestimating how desperately KC fans cling to their nostalgia.

And there's a natural assumption that White will always be a part of the organization, as well there should be. The move is too shocking to simply blow over, and the Royals would be foolish to think otherwise.

The Royals facebook page has erased every comment made about Frank White. Sad that they can't stand the heat in the kitchen:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/Royals

Royals "official" release is up on their site:

KANSAS CITY -- Frank White, a Royals Hall of Fame member, will not be back as the team's television broadcast analyst next season.

The Royals and FOX Sports Kansas City announced on Friday that White, whose role in the TV booth grew to full-time status over the last three years, would not have his contract renewed. Also dropped was longtime TV producer Kevin Shank.

Replacements are being sought, the club said.
Frank White worked in the Royals' front office, managed the club's Double-A team and was the ALCS MVP in 1980. (AP)

"They were both FOX employees, and we had conversations about their positions and the decision was made to just go in another direction," said Mike Swanson, Royals vice president of communications and broadcasting.

White, 61, wasn't surprised by the decision -- "I knew it was coming," he said -- but he was upset enough to declare that he's severing ties with the team.

"I'm not going to work for the Royals ever again," he said. "I am done with the Royals in entirety. I can't deal with them anymore."

White, an eight-time winner of the American League Gold Glove at second base, grew up in Kansas City and has been a public face of the Royals for many years. His 20 is one of three numbers, along with George Brett's 5 and Dick Howser's 10, retired by the club. His statue stands inside Kauffman Stadium.

What was White, who said he had a mutual option contract with FOX Sports to return in 2012, told about his dismissal?

"When I talked to the guy at FOX, it was all about the Royals. They thought the broadcast was negative and they wanted to bring somebody in that was more in line with the thinking of the organization," White said.

White didn't feel that he was negative on the air.

"I didn't say anything negative about this ballclub last year," White said. "I just tried to be a coach and show people different things on defense and on offense that could help them understand the game a little bit better. And I've gotten so many comments from people that say, 'I really enjoy you on the broadcasts, I really learn something every time I watch the game.'"

White drew on vast experience and success as a player. He appeared in seven postseasons with the Royals and was the AL Championship Series MVP in 1980 when he hit .545 and the team went on to its first World Series appearance. In the 1985 World Series victory over St. Louis, he batted in the cleanup spot and led the Royals with six RBIs. He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1995.

His TV role grew with the illness of Royals Hall of Fame pitcher Paul Splittorff, the TV analyst who died last May 25 of cancer.

"What got lost in this, and needs to be remembered, is that Frank was called in for a difficult situation when Paul was sick, and I don't know that Frank was ever the full-time analyst. He was holding Paul's place until Paul could come back," Swanson said. "And, obviously, Paul didn't come back and now that we're beyond that situation, both parties [FOX and the Royals] have decided it's time to move on."

Before becoming involved in team broadcasting, White had been a Royals coach (1997-2001), in the front office (2002-03), and was manager for their Double-A team at Wichita for three years (2004-06). More recently, White worked in community relations for the team but resigned as a full-time employee last January over what he called "a two-thirds cut" in salary. He continued to work as a part-time Spring Training instructor and in his TV role for FOX.

But it's his 18 years on the field, during which he became one of the Royals' most revered players, that made him a Kansas City icon. He's the first graduate of team founder Ewing Kauffman's experimental Royals Academy to make the Majors. He's second on the team's career charts in games played (2,324), at-bats (7,859) and hits (2,006). His defensive play around second base earned him the nickname of "Smooth."

Swanson was asked if he expected a backlash from Kansas City fans over White's departure.

"I would expect our fans to continue to respect and appreciate everything Frank did for this organization," Swanson said. "I don't think any of that is diminished in this. Frank stepped up for us at time and we gave Frank an endorsement with FOX at a time we were really scrambling. And Frank stepped up for us. I hope this doesn't change people's views -- Frank will always be a very popular figure in the eyes of the Kansas City Royals."

Left fielder Alex Gordon, who played under White at Wichita, was surprised by the news.

"He's been with the Royals ever since I've been here, so it's kind of sad to see him go, but hopefully he can move on and find something for himself," Gordon said. "He was a very intelligent baseball person and knew what he was talking about and brought a lot of knowledge to the game. So I know myself and a lot of other guys are going to miss him."

The Royals have no formal list of candidates to replace White, but former closer Jeff Montgomery, who did pre- and postgame work and a few games as an analyst last season, is certain to be on it.

"Ultimately, it'll be FOX's hire with our input," Swanson said.

Shank had been the Royals' TV producer for 17 years and before that worked as a technician on baseball telecasts since 1983.

"FOX Sports Midwest general manager Jack Donovan told me that it was a joint decision between FOX and the Kansas City Royals, and the Royals were unhappy with the job that I was doing," Shank said. "Jack Donovan said that FOX was very happy with the job I had been doing since I'd been working for them."

Shank said Donovan indicated the Royals felt the telecasts sometimes were too negative.

"I strongly contradict that, because I've been a Royals fan since 1969 and I always tried to put the team in the best light in every telecast for over 17 years. And it's a shame that I can't do that anymore," Shank said.

Ryan Lefebvre, who had been the FOX TV play-by-by voice, was considered for the Minnesota Twins' vacant radio job in October, but that possibility ended a month ago. Swanson indicated that the Royals and FOX are working on a long-term deal to keep Lefebvre in Kansas City.

Meantime White, whose only time in another baseball organization was with Boston in 1992-96, is uncertain of his future.

"All I want to do is work for another five years, retire and enjoy my grandkids and have some fun," White said. "And I thought I was going to do that with the Royals."

i've never hid the fact that i'm a cardinal fan. the deal is, i root for the cards in the national league, and the royals in the american. it is what it is...if you don't like it, gfy.
this sucks big time. they ****ed over one of the nicest guys in the game, and then try to censor out the fans when they give their opinion? bullshit.
sec

Yea, I posted that they took their facebook stuff down. I had made a comment on there and noticed this mornign all the stuff was gone. Chicken shit bastards.

Obviously I believe non-renewing his contract was the correct move, but the Royals handled this poorly. The Royals knew or should have known a couple things. First, Frank White is a very proud man, perhaps far too proud for his own good, where despite all the organization has done for him, he's constantly seeing himself as being disrespected. Second, it should have been clear to the Royals after just a few weeks of filling in for Split that this was not going to work.

Back then, Frank was still working PR and not yet been cemented in as the color analyst, and what the Royals should have done was sit him down, tell him straight-up that this was temporary and that if Split did not come back, they were moving in a new direction, but they'd love to have him working PR. If he reacted poorly to that, well he'd just started the TV gig and at least you were up-front with him. Instead, the Royals said nothing about his broadcasting, allowing him over a couple seasons to think he was doing well, and earlier this year due to his not having time for PR anymore, they slashed his PR pay by 2/3.

That move may have been justified, and it may have been logical, but given his pride, it was a very stupid move. All it did was greatly piss him off to the point where he told the Royals to shove their PR job, and apparently (I wasn't aware of this) over the last season it was a poorly-kept secret in baseball that off the air and off the record, he'd blast the Royals management to anyone and everyone from any organization or news outlet who wanted to talk to him about it. If true, I'm not sure why he'd think the Royals would put up with that.

From another board, this neatly sums up the disrespect to Frank White and what he's "owed".

Sorry, that argument is insufficient. As the other poster states, "Very few folks have a job for life."

The "folks" who do? Legends of a particular organization. The kind who likely have statues in front of the parks, their numbers retired, and their likeness in the team's HOF. Kind of like that Frank White guy.

Just when the Royals are starting to establish legitimacy and renewed respect, they cannot get out of their own way.

Of course it is, those 6 bullets are just one brick in the wall.

Those six points are meant to sum up the entire wall, and the poster ends with a jaded and potentially envious comment about so few having "jobs for life."

The sauce is weak. I don't care if White was a petulant pain the ****ing ass behind the scenes. On camera, he was likeable, and he'll be forever beloved by Royals fans.

Thus, you don't cut him loose with a Friday firing.

My comments from yesterday are still there. Just make sure you change the wall filter to "everyone."

David Glass didn't become successful for nothing. Luckily for him theres always been useful idiots such as yourself.