Longtime Royals catcher, manager Wathan to retire

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Longtime big league catcher and manager John Wathan announced Wednesday that he will retire after this season, ending a career in professional baseball that included 47 of 51 years spent with the Kansas City Royals.

Nicknamed “Duke,” Wathan was a first-round pick of the Royals in 1971 and eventually spent 10 seasons behind the plate for them. That included his memorable 1980 season in which he hit .305 and helped Kansas City win the AL pennant, and their 1985 season, when he helped the club win its first World Series title in his final year before retiring as a player.