Pazik reveling in Royals reign

If you happen to have a DVD of baseball’s postseason this year, please let Mike Pazik know. Major League Baseball’s playoffs were a bit of a blur for the Lynn native. But he wants to be sure he remembers it all.

And with good reason. Pazik, a scout for the Kansas City Royals, won his first World Series championship after a lifetime in baseball. The Royals beat the Mets in five games in the best-of-seven series.

“I can’t remember how the games went because we were working so hard. That was (my) focus,” he said.

“It was the most – very enjoyable, obviously – but it was so stressful. Mike Toomey (another Kansas City scout) and I got on a plane on Wednesday morning, flew from New York to Los Angeles, saw the Mets beat the Dodgers (in the National League Division Series), got on a plane the next morning, went from LA back to New York, for the start of the Cubs-Mets (National League Championship Series). And that’s basically how that month went. It was a blur. It was crazy. But it was worth it.

“When we got the Mets, a lot of people said we weren’t going to score a lot of runs. But I said I think we can handle their offense, and as long as we stay close to their starters, then our bullpen is better than theirs.”

For Pazik, who will be 66 this month, the World Series is the culmination of a career that began decades ago in Lynn. A 1968 graduate of Lynn English who then attended Holy Cross, Pazik was a first-round pick (13th overall) by the Yankees in 1971. After a 1974 trade, the left-hander pitched for parts of three seasons with the Twins until a horrific 1977 car crash ended his playing career. In three starts that season, he was 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA.

He attempted to resume his pitching career after he recovered from the accident, which left him with two broken legs and serious complications. But the damage was too severe, the rehab grueling. So, he moved into coaching and then scouting. Pazik, who now lives in Bethesda, Md., has been with the Royals since 2002.

The Royals got to the World Series in 2014, falling in heartbreaking fashion to the Giants. The Royals lost the decisive Game 7, 3-2, with the tying run on third base.

It’s extremely difficult for any team to repeat. Pazik knows that. Before last year, his only other taste of the postseason was in 1983, while coaching in the White Sox organization. The White Sox lost the ALCS in four games to the Orioles that year.

The Royals wanted to get back to the World Series this year. They knew they had the talent. But a return trip always takes some luck.

“Everybody felt there was unfinished business,” Pazik said. “So did I, so did every scout, every front office person, every player. And when (Wade) Davis finally threw that last pitch, it was such, you could just hear a collective sigh of relief because the onus was off our shoulders and we accomplished something that we had all set out to do. If you don’t win, the back-breaker is there’s no guarantee that you’ll get back to the World Series. That just doesn’t happen anymore.”

The organization’s mantra last season: “We need to get 90 feet better.”

“And we were able to do that,” Pazik said. “So it's very, very, very satisfying.”

Even if it was nerve-wracking.

“I couldn’t even sit. I had to get up and walk around,” Pazik said. “We were in New York and I told (my wife) Susan, ‘Look, I got to get up. if you don’t see me for a while, I haven’t left you. I just can’t sit here and watch. I need to get up.’ So I walked around Citi Field, looking at monitors. It was so nerve-wracking. But it was incredible.”

A scout’s life isn’t always glamorous. There are lots of airports, plane trips, hotels, ballpark food, and time away from family. It starts in spring training and lasts – if you’re lucky – until the end of October, or the beginning of November as was the case this year.

The World Series win has slowly been sinking in for Pazik. It started a few days after the Series ended, walking in the victory parade with Susan and his coworkers, surrounded by nearly a million Royals fans. It continued at baseball’s winter meetings earlier this month, getting congratulatory handshakes from colleagues and competitors. It will really sink in when he receives his World Series ring with the name ‘Pazik’ engraved on it.

The Royals will receive their rings in an Opening Day ceremony. Their opponents? The New York Mets. Yes, the team they beat in the World Series. The baseball gods do like a good plot twist.

“It’s just very satisfying,” Pazik said. “It’s what you all work for. It’s what you work for in this business, to be the world champion. In any sport that’s what you ultimately work for. So it’s a good feeling, it’s going to be a better feeling when I put that ring on.”

Follow Maureen Mullen on Twitter at@MaureenAMullen.