1980 Game 3: BRETT'S PAIN IS BEHIND HIM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Appearing before an assembly of the global media in an

interview area under Royals Stadium late last night, George Brett issued the

following bulletin on the medical case that has had America spellbound since

the details were first shared with the public earlier this week.

"My pain is all behind me," said George, who certainly has a way with

words.

It was in this spirit that the George Brett story flipped another page last

night, an evening when the Phillies were to notice the first slippage in their

command of World Series '80.

Arriving at the stadium from St. Luke's Hosptial by taxi in the late

afternoon, Brett asked that his name be added to the lineup. "I told Jim Frey

(the manager) I felt great," George recalled after a performance which

would suggest he is as honest as he is awesome.

Brett slammed a home run to right field in the first inning, nearly took

Dick Ruthven out of the park again in the fifth, doubled in the eighth, and

was aboard via an intentional walk in the 10th when Willie Mays Aikens

stroked the hit that readmitted the Royals to this l980 tournament.

HANDSOME, STYLISH, gifted, a man whose presence transforms the Kansas City

Royals from an ordinary team to one of accomplishment, Brett certainly seemed

an heroic figure as he later moved into the interview area where the first

question was:

"George, how are your hemorrhoids? "

To his considerable credit, George Brett does not snarl or throw things at

people who ask this question, preferring now that the problem has been

corrected to laugh along with the rest of the world.

"It wasn't amusing to me at first," he was saying, after moving over to his

locker last evening. "There was too much pain. Now that the operation (a

blood clot within the hemorrhoid was lanced, relieving the pressure) has

taken care of that, I plan to have some fun with it. "

Brett was asked if he had any problem fielding. "None," he replied, "but I

told the manager if there was to write me in as 'Preparation DH. ' "

"Are you embarrassed by all this?" someone wanted to know.

"Of course not," George Brett said. "I'm rather glad I have them. "

Seriously? "Seriously, I was embarrassed at first," he admitted. "I had

hoped it wouldn't become public knowledge. It's not the kind of thing you go

around discussing with your friends.

"I MEAN, YOU meet a guy you know on the street and exchange the basic

qreeting, which is, 'How you doing? ' You don't say, 'Oh, I got hemorrhoids. '

"

By the hour George Brett took the field for the second Series game in

Philadelphia Wednesday, the world knew. Brett removed himself after six

painful innings that evening. "Coming back on the team plane afterwards I

stretched out across three seats and got some relief," he said.

"I went from the plane to the hospital, and at 9 o'clock the next morning

the doctors came in, woke me up, and said they were gonna operate. They

promised there was a great chance I could play again tonight if they were

successful, but to tell you the truth I wasn't thinking much about baseball at

the time. Of course, I never do when I'm away from the park. If I concentrated

on it like some guys, I'd be too tight to play the game. "

By early yesterday afternoon, George Brett knew he was ready to resume

swinging at the Phillies. "I laid in bed all day Thursday and most of today,

" he explained, "and then when it was time to get moving again I almost

didn't make it to the ballpark.

"MY BROTHER (Ken) and Jamie (catcher Jamie Quirk) had said they'd pick me

up, but when they called the hospital they were told I'd already checked out.

I was dressed and waiting at 2 o'clock. When it got to be 3:45 I was nervous,

so I called my brother's place and found out he'd already gone to the park. I

ended up taking a cab, but the driver didn't know how to get to the park when

the traffic is heavy. I had to give him directions.

"I think he recognized me," George Brett added. "When he let me off, he

said, 'Good luck tonight. ' "

The luck was to belong to George and his teammates. The Phillies knocked

around Rich Gale, the Kansas City starter, added seven hits off relievers

Renie Martin and Dan Quisenberry, but left 15 runners stranded on the

basepaths while the waters of the ballpark fountains danced in the background.

The Royals did not seem to notice, so involved were they in foulups of their

own. Even in the 10th, after U.L. Washington had singled and Willie Wilson

walked with no outs, they threatened to give it back. Attempting to bunt,

Frank White missed the ball and Washington, on the way to third base, was cut

down.

White then fanned. With Brett at the plate, Willie stole second, a move

which invited the Phillies to walk George. They accepted eagerly.

"The manager told me to go," Willie later pointed out, "and what he says,

I'm gonna do. "

GEORGE BRETT shrugged. "I saw nothing wrong with it," he said. "I would

have needed a double to get Willie home from first. And Aikens had no trouble

getting him in from second.

"I feel very good about the win. The Phillies came in here needing only two

of five, but they didn't relax. They played great baseball and that we were

finally able to beat them under those circumstances means the momentum may

have shifted a little. The other important thing is that I now know I can play

the rest of the way. "

George says he was able to maintain good humor during his ordeal partially

because the fans would not let him do otherwise. "You wouldn't believe the

cures which were phoned in," he points out. "Orange peels were a favorite.

One person said that if I baked banana peels and then placed them on the

hemorrhoids, they'd shrink.

"One of my favorites is a vase of flowers somebody sent. There were the

stems and leaves, but instead of buds there were little packages of

hemorrhoids medication attached.

"I even got a call from Maui . . . and that's in Hawaii, man. I think

it's fair to say that I've made hemorrhoids famous. "

Geoge Brett insists that he played without pain last night. "Except for

when I hit the home run and somebody patted me on the butt," he added. "Now,

that hurt. I don't know who it was but I intend to look at the films and find

out. "

Considering the position of his team at the time of the blow, and his own

position in recent days - both of which could be described as prone - George

was asked if he didn't feel that his first-inning home run was especially

meaningful.

Thinking about that only briefly, George Brett nodded. "It meant a lot to

me," he said, "because I didn't have to slide."