ned yost-kansas city royals-dayton moore Aug 28, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) looks on during batting practice, prior to a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Last summer, during a press conference about pitcher Danny Duffy’s DUI arrest, Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore went off on a surprising tangent about the danger of pornography. That lecture caught the attention of an anti-pornography organization called Fight the New Drug, and six months or so later, the team and the advocacy group have partnered on what the latter calls a “fight for love” but what someone else might call a crusade against porn.

Last weekend, Fight the New Drug showed up to Royals Spring Training to offer a presentation to 200 players, coaches, trainers, and staff members. Moore spoke, as did relief pitcher Blaine Boyer.

The presentation seems to have resonated with at least one member of the Royals organization. Fight the New Drug posted to Instagram a message from minor-league strength and conditioning coach Austin Womack, in which Womack described being addicted to porn in high school and college and said it was “an honor” to listen to Fight the New Drug founder Clay Olsen.

“Today I had the honor of listening to Clay (one of FTND’s co-founders) present on the harmful effects of pornography. Words really can’t express how much fighting the battle against pornography addiction means to me, and how grateful I am to be a part of the @kcroyals organization, the first organization in professional baseball to actively fight against porn addiction. It says a ton about the kind of men we have in leadership roles and it makes me even more eager to serve under them. – My personal story with porn addiction started when I was around 12-13 and it accelerated into an addiction throughout high school in college. In those years if you would’ve asked me if I had an addiction I would’ve said “Heck no. Addiction is for stuff like alcohol and drugs.” Especially because of how normal porn is in our society today. All my friends watched it. It really wasn’t a big deal. – It wasn’t until I actively started to fight this addiction, and see victory in this addiction, that I began to realize that there were areas of my life that were negatively affected by my porn addiction. My relationships with girls was the main victim, but it also affected other things like my sleep habits. Also, it’s a super tough addiction to beat, which confirms to me that this thing really is an addiction. – The last few years I have been battling this addiction I would see victory for a month or two and then I would relapse back into it for a few weeks before getting clean again. It was a roller coaster. I knew I wanted to get clean, and I thought I knew how to, but I had yet to see sustained progress. This is where @fightthenewdrug comes in. – 5 months ago I started the Fortify Program @joinfortify . Since then I have refrained from viewing porn, which makes this current streak the longest since I was first exposed to porn over a decade ago. – I still face temptation all the time. Its tough. It’s a daily battle. But it’s a battle that is winnable and the positive repercussions from beating this addiction are more than worth the fight. My life is proof.” – @awomack12 ?⚾

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If you are wondering what any of this has to do with baseball or why an organization should care what its employees do (legally) on their own time in their own bedrooms, you’re not alone. Via the New York Post, here’s how Moore described it back in August, after Duffy’s DUI.

“We’ve done a lot of leadership stuff with our players,” said Moore, a devout Christian. “Very transparent about things that happen in our game. Not only with drugs and alcohol — we talk about pornography and the effects, what that does to the minds of players and the distractions, and how that leads to abuse of — domestic abuse, abuse of women. How it impacts relationships. We talk about a lot of things, and I don’t mind sharing them with you.”

Well, there you have it. The Royals are not big fans of pornography.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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