John Perrotto

Special for USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ned Yost stole the show at World Series media day.

The Kansas City Royals' manager had plenty of funny stories to tell on Monday in advance of his team opening the best-of-seven series Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium.

Yost grew up in the Bay Area in Hayward, Calif., as a Giants' fans.

"I bet you I've wore out 15 San Francisco Giant hats as a kid growing up," Yost said. "That was my team. I loved to watch them. Willie Mays was my idol and favorite player at that time, just was a huge Giants' fan.

"By the time I was a junior and senior in high school, the Oakland A's were winning their championships, but at heart I was always a Giants' fan.

One of Yost's most memorable days while growing up, though, came at what was then known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum and snagging an autograph from Athletics star left-hander Vida Blue. The autograph, though, didn't make through the end of the game.

"I hate to say this, but we used to sneak in the Coliseum. We'd hop the fence and hide in the bathroom until (batting practice) started, and we'd run out and shag fly balls and catch them," Yost said. "We were wandering around the stadium, and one time Vida Blue was throwing a side session.

"And I ran down to get his autograph, but I didn't have anything for him to sign. The only thing I had was a dollar bill. So I asked Vida if he'd sign it for me, and he signed 'Vida Blue' on the dollar bill.

"And I was the happiest guy in the stadium until about the sixth inning, and I got hungry and I spent it on a Colossal Dog. I don't know if you remember Colossal Dogs. When they came out, they were big hot dogs and big buns and sauerkraut. And they were about a buck. So I spent my Vida Blue autograph on a Colossal Dog."

Yost eventually secured another Blue signature.

"The cool thing about it is 20 years later, I was doing a clinic with Vida Blue, and I told all the kids, 'Vida won't remember this,' but I told the story and they all laughed," Yost said. "At the end of the clinic, Vida came up and handed me an autographed dollar bill. So that was cool."

Yost appeared in one World Series as a player. That was in 1982 when he was Milwaukee's reserve catcher, and the Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. He drew a walk off John Stuper in Game 6 with two outs in the ninth inning and the Brewers trailing 13-1.

"I went up there and I was going to hit a home run," Yost said. "I never walked, right? (The count) got to 3-1, and I said, 'I don't care where you throw it, I'm swinging it.' Because I was gonna hit a home run or strike out. That was my only intention. He ended up throwing a pitch nine feet outside, so far I couldn't even swing at it.

"So the thing I did least in my career was walk, and I ended up walking in the World Series."

Yost drew just 21 walks in 640 plate appearances during his six-year career.