JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

While waiting for Game 3 of the American League Division Series, here’s a quick warm-up story.

My wife Patty was at the Brookside Market around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, checking out the offerings in the wine aisle, which is quite substantial, if you’re familiar with the market.

She sees a man wearing a zipped-up jacket and a baseball cap, but not a Royals cap. She immediately recognizes the man, to her great surprise, as none other than Royals manager Ned Yost.

Still carrying some of the joyous energy from Friday night’s thrilling victory over the Angels, Patty greeted him with an enthusiastic, almost-gushing, “Hi!” Ned, she said, responded with a smile and an almost equally enthusiastic hello.

Here’s how the brief conversation went from there:

Patty: “How are you?”

Ned: “Kind of tired.”

Patty: “We all are.”

Ned: “It’s a lot of fun, isn’t it?”

Patty: “It’s incredible.”

They then said goodbye, each resuming their perusal of the wine possibilities.

I’ve been in Colorado with a couple of friends the last few days, and Patty called me last night to relate the story. I put her on the speaker phone, and the three of us on our end were almost as thrilled at Patty’s telling of the story as she was at actually having met and talked to Ned.

…I’ve never seen Ned in the Brookside area, but it sounds like he might live in the area during the season. If that’s the case, I’m convinced, more than ever, that he’s the smartest man in baseball. (Of course, if you’d have asked me what I thought about him a few days after the All-Star break, when the Royals were tanking, you would have gotten a different opinion.)

But that’s baseball. Go Royals!