Wilson’s home

Perhaps no one in the Royals organization was happier to be in Springdale on Monday than Vance Wilson.

Wilson, who was the Naturals’ manager from 2013-2017 and has been on the Royals’ coaching staff since 2018, lives in Springdale in the offseason.

“I’m not going to lie this is a very selfish excitement,” Wilson said prior to the exhibition game Monday. “Very good for my wife and I to not only sleep in your own bed but to drive my stuff to Kansas City and not have my wife to have to worry about it is pretty nice.”

Wilson played in

403 games in the major leagues for eight seasons (1999-2006) as a catcher with the New York Mets, Detroit Tigers and Royals. He signed a minor league contract with the Royals in 2009 and played 59 games with Northwest Arkansas, hitting .270 with 10 homers with 32 RBI.

He retired in 2010 and began his coaching career in October 2010 with the Royals’ Class A affiliate, the Kane County Cougars (2011 season) before managing the Wilmington Blue Rocks. He was promoted to manager of the Naturals in 2013. The Naturals played for the Texas League championship in 2015 and 2016 under Wilson.

In 2018, he was named bullpen coach for Kansas City before moving to third base coach in 2020.

He said it was special to be back at Arvest Ballpark on Monday.

“Obviously you go through different chapters of your career, playing and coaching,” Wilson said. “This was a huge chapter of my career. To be a part of this and all the great coaches, the success we had, the playoffs, to be such good friends with [Naturals General Manager] Justin Cole and those guys and get to see them, and a lot of guys you hear about. This is one of our better affiliates as far as stadium. It’s nice for people to see.”