It’s been a busy and happy couple of months for Michael Massey.
In the span of a few weeks, the Brother Rice graduate and Kansas City Royals second baseman had a successful postseason debut, came home to help his brother, Evergreen Park coach Andrew Massey, with a youth camp and married his fiancee, Jane.
Just a year removed from a 106-loss season, Massey and the Royals improved their win total by 30 and squeezed out a postseason berth. They swept the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 in an American League wild-card series before losing 3-1 to the New York Yankees in an AL Division Series.
Massey hit .304 with a .360 on-base percentage, a double, a triple and a RBI while leading off in five of his team’s six postseason games.
No hit was bigger than his game-tying RBI triple in Game 3 of the ALDS, an eventual 3-2 loss to the Yankees.
“Probably to this point in my career that was my biggest highlight. It was cool to do that,” Massey said. “It was one of those pinch-me moments.”
Massey had a strong regular season despite missing some time with back issues. He played in 100 games with a .259 batting average, 14 home runs, 45 runs, 45 RBI, 86 hits and 17 doubles. He posted career-bests in runs, batting, slugging percentage and OPS.
After starring at Brother Rice and Illinois, the 2019 fourth-round pick has established himself as one of the faces of a young Royal core that has been together since their minor-league days.
“We have played together for a really long time and I think it was one of the reasons we were successful this year. I feel like we are a little more than teammates,” Massey said.
A key to this season for the Royals was their ability to rally. Kansas City’s 38 comeback wins were tied for seventh place in MLB with the San Diego Padres.
“We did a really good job at coming back in games,” Massey said. “Games that we were down, we were able to steal back a lot of them. It felt like we were never out of it. A lot of that goes toward how close we are on and off the field.”
The Palos Park native enjoyed the competitiveness of this season compared to other recent years.
“It is a testament to our coaching staff, training staff, and organization as a whole. We are trying to keep that momentum heading into 2025.”
Now that the season is over, Massey is back home living in Chicago. It is set to be a busy offseason with weddings around the country and workout sessions with his trainer, Brett Velon.
Another highlight of Massey’s offseason is connecting with the youth and passing off what he learned growing up playing baseball.
“I have been able to absorb a lot of information from my playing experiences and my coaches,” he said. “It is just really cool to turn around and give it back to the kids in the community who have the same dream I did of playing in the big leagues.”
Massey recently joined his brother for a baseball camp.
“I just like to stand back and watch from afar and help when I can,” Massey said. “We still like to bounce ideas off each other often.”
Massey is very proud of his older brother and excited for the future of baseball in the southwest suburbs.
“I think there will be some good battles between Evergreen Park, Brother Rice and St. Rita … and all the southside schools coming up.”
Wherever Massey goes, he leaves others with one final piece of wisdom.
“I have learned that the reality is that odds are stacked against you in every profession you do,” he said. “It all goes down to being able to work hard and being around people that will push you and that you believe in yourself.”