1971 Kansas City Royals | ||
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League | American League | |
Division | West | |
Ballpark | Municipal Stadium | |
City | Kansas City, Missouri | |
Record | 85–76 | |
Divisional place | 2nd | |
Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |
General managers | Cedric Tallis | |
Managers | Bob Lemon (first full season) | |
Television | KMBC-TV | |
Radio | KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews) | |
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The 1971 Kansas City Royals season was their third in Major League Baseball. The Royals had the first winning season (85–76) in franchise history, good enough for second place in the American League West and 16 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Kansas City earning a winning record in its third season was the second fastest of any expansion club in Major League Baseball history up to that point, the 1962 Los Angeles Angels achieved a winning record in their second season. The record would stand until the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League West title in their second season.
By comparison, none of the Royals' expansion brethren--the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres--enjoyed a winning season prior to 1978.
Offseason[edit]
- February 2, 1971: Ellie Rodríguez was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor.[1]
- Prior to 1971 season: Gary Lance was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.[2]
Regular season[edit]
Season standings[edit]
Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oakland Athletics | 101 | 60 | .627 | — | 46–35 | 55–25 |
Kansas City Royals | 85 | 76 | .528 | 16 | 44–37 | 41–39 |
Chicago White Sox | 79 | 83 | .488 | 22½ | 39–42 | 40–41 |
California Angels | 76 | 86 | .469 | 25½ | 35–46 | 41–40 |
Minnesota Twins | 74 | 86 | .463 | 26½ | 37–42 | 37–44 |
Milwaukee Brewers | 69 | 92 | .429 | 32 | 34–48 | 35–44 |
Record vs. opponents[edit]
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH | |
Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–5 | 9–3 | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 13–3 | |
Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 10–2 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 1–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 12–6 | |
California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | |
Chicago | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–2 | |
Cleveland | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–11 | |
Detroit | 10–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–6 | — | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 14–4 | |
Kansas City | 5–6 | 11–1 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 9–3 | |
Milwaukee | 3–9 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 10–8 | — | 10–7 | 2–10 | 3–15 | 6–6 | |
Minnesota | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–10 | — | 8–4 | 8–10 | 5–6 | |
New York | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 4–8 | — | 5–7 | 7–11 | |
Oakland | 4–7 | 9–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 15–3 | 10–8 | 7–5 | — | 9–3 | |
Washington | 3–13 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 11–7 | 3–9 | — |
Notable transactions[edit]
- May 11, 1971: Tom Matchick was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Savage.[3]
- June 8, 1971: George Brett was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.[4]
Roster[edit]
1971 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats[edit]
Batting[edit]
Starters by position[edit]
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Jerry May | 71 | 218 | 55 | .252 | 1 | 24 |
1B | Gail Hopkins | 103 | 295 | 82 | .278 | 9 | 47 |
2B | Cookie Rojas | 115 | 414 | 124 | .300 | 6 | 59 |
SS | Freddie Patek | 147 | 591 | 158 | .267 | 6 | 36 |
3B | Paul Schaal | 161 | 548 | 150 | .274 | 11 | 63 |
LF | Lou Piniella | 126 | 448 | 125 | .279 | 3 | 51 |
CF | Amos Otis | 147 | 555 | 167 | .301 | 15 | 79 |
RF | Joe Keough | 110 | 351 | 87 | .248 | 3 | 30 |
Other batters[edit]
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Oliver | 128 | 373 | 91 | .244 | 8 | 52 |
Ed Kirkpatrick | 120 | 365 | 80 | .219 | 9 | 46 |
Bobby Knoop | 72 | 161 | 33 | .205 | 1 | 11 |
Dennis Paepke | 60 | 152 | 31 | .204 | 2 | 14 |
Chuck Harrison | 49 | 143 | 31 | .217 | 2 | 21 |
Bobby Floyd | 31 | 66 | 10 | .152 | 0 | 2 |
Sandy Valdespino | 18 | 63 | 20 | .317 | 2 | 15 |
Buck Martinez | 22 | 46 | 7 | .152 | 0 | 1 |
Carl Taylor | 20 | 39 | 7 | .179 | 0 | 3 |
Rich Severson | 16 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
Ted Savage | 19 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 1 |
Pitching[edit]
Starting pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dick Drago | 35 | 241.1 | 17 | 11 | 2.98 | 109 |
Mike Hedlund | 32 | 205.2 | 15 | 8 | 2.71 | 76 |
Paul Splittorff | 22 | 144.1 | 8 | 9 | 2.68 | 80 |
Bruce Dal Canton | 25 | 141.1 | 8 | 6 | 3.44 | 58 |
Wally Bunker | 7 | 32.1 | 2 | 3 | 5.01 | 15 |
Other pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Fitzmorris | 36 | 127.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.17 | 53 |
Ken Wright | 21 | 78.0 | 3 | 6 | 3.69 | 56 |
Jim Rooker | 20 | 54.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.33 | 31 |
Bill Butler | 14 | 44.1 | 1 | 2 | 3.45 | 32 |
Lance Clemons | 10 | 24.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.12 | 20 |
Monty Montgomery | 3 | 21.1 | 3 | 0 | 2.11 | 12 |
Mike McCormick | 4 | 9.2 | 0 | 0 | 9.31 | 2 |
Relief pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Abernathy | 63 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 2.56 | 55 |
Tom Burgmeier | 67 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 1.73 | 44 |
Jim York | 53 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2.89 | 103 |
Roger Nelson | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.29 | 29 |
Farm system[edit]
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira, GCL Royals
Notes[edit]
- ^ Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
- ^ Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
- ^ Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
- ^ George Brett at Baseball Reference
References[edit]
- 1971 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1971 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.