Former Royals pitcher Paul Splittorff reportedly fighting cancer

LJWorld.com weblogs Broken Bat Single Kansas City Royals Blog

Posted by Nick Scott

May 16, 2011 at 2:41 p.m.

Greg Hall at KC Confidential is reporting that former Kansas City Royals pitcher and current broadcaster Paul Splittorff has throat cancer and melanaoma. Hall is also reporting that Splittorff "is not expected to make it through the week."

Since 2010, Paul Splittorff has been battling some issues with his voice that left him off the television broadcasts following Opening Day. It's long been reported that he had a viral infection at the root. While he's improved since then, there is still some lingering issues with his voice that for the most part have kept him on the pre and post-game rather than his customary color commentary.

Listening to Splittorff break down a game made Royals television broadcasts not only entertaining but educational. He never talked down to the audience and he always had interesting things to say. Since his voice troubles surfaced, I've truly missed his analysis. While he clearly had some trouble talking, I was always a proponent of having him back in the booth. It was never the sound of his voice that I enjoyed, rather it was the thoughts that were being voiced. I'd always assumed that eventually, he would recover and be back in the booth.

I hope that the predictions are wrong, Split can recover and once again we can hear him discuss the fine art of pitching. In the mean-time my thoughts are with the Royals Hall-of-Fame pitcher, broadcaster and his family.

Update: The Royals have released an official statement on Paul Splittorff

The family of Paul Splittorff has confirmed that he has been admitted to an area hospital and has received treatment for both oral cancer and melanoma. The family has also requested to please respect their privacy during this difficult time and to expect no further comments on his condition.

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Kryptonite 5 years, 4 months ago

This is sad news. He was a great pitcher and an even better at game analysis. My thoughts and prayers are out to him.

Royals 5 years, 4 months ago

Keep fighting Paul.

Nick Scott 5 years, 4 months ago

Yes, it certainly is. I hope that he recovers. I've always loved his analysis.

schula 5 years, 4 months ago

Such sad news -- my thoughts and prayers are with Paul an dhis family. I loved listening to him do the color during Royals games and he also did some of the Big 12 basketball games.

cato_the_elder 5 years, 4 months ago

Heartfelt sympathies to Splitt and his family. A great athlete and an even better person.

tophersdad 5 years, 4 months ago

I played in a charity basketball game with Splitt a long time ago. We were both given the wrong starting time and sat in an empty gym for about an hour and a half waiting for everybody to show up. What a great guy! He told some stories, we joked about him playing basketball. It was a very special moment for a fan of the Royals during his prime. I cannot describe how sad this makes me...