Before Game 1 of the World Series, Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland offered a warm greeting to Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens.
Another case of unsettling fraternization among opponents? Nah, more like a reunion between old friends.
Eiland said he and Meulens were roommates at every level of the Yankees’ farm system and in the majors as well. They both were highly regarded prospects, too: In 1990, Muelens was the team’s Minor League Player of the Year and Eiland its Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Meulens isn’t Eiland’s only connection to the Giants, though.
General manager Brian Sabean recruited Eiland unsuccessfully as the coach at University of Tampa, then grabbed him as the Yankees’ scouting director three years later in the seventh round of the 1987 draft.
Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti, meanwhile, relieved Eiland in his first major-league start on Aug. 3, 1988 — and promptly blew the save.
Eiland had pitched seven innings, allowing only run. Righetti took over in the eighth, allowed five runs in a third of an inning, and the Yankees lost to the Brewers 6-5.
