1981 Kansas City Royals season

Last updated

1981  Kansas City Royals
League American League
Division West
Ballpark Royals Stadium
City Kansas City, Missouri
Owners Ewing Kauffman
General managers Joe Burke
Managers Jim Frey and Dick Howser
Television WDAF-TV 4
(Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Radio WIBW–AM 580
KMBZ–AM 980
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
←  1980 Seasons 1982  →

The 1981 Kansas City Royals season was their 13th in Major League Baseball. The 1981 season was interrupted by a players strike from June 12 to July 31, and resumed on August 10. Major League Baseball officials decided to split the season, and the division winners of both halves would advance to the playoffs. The Royals were 20–30 and in fifth place in the American League West when the strike began, but won the second half with a 30–23 mark. Dick Howser replaced Jim Frey as manager on August 31. Kansas City's overall 50-53 record made the Royals the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason with a losing mark. Kansas City lost to the first half American League West winner Oakland Athletics 3–0 in the ALDS.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 64450.587—35–2129–24
Texas Rangers 57480.543532–2425–24
Chicago White Sox 54520.5098½25–2429–28
Kansas City Royals 50530.4851119–2831–25
California Angels 51590.46413½26–2825–31
Seattle Mariners 44650.4042020–3724–28
Minnesota Twins 41680.3762324–3617–32
AL West
First Half Standings		WLPct.GB
Oakland Athletics 3723.617—
Texas Rangers 3322.6001+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox 3122.5852+1⁄2
California Angels 3129.5176
Kansas City Royals 2030.40012
Seattle Mariners 2136.36814+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins 1739.30418
AL West
Second Half Standings		WLPct.GB
Kansas City Royals 3023.566—
Oakland Athletics 2722.5511
Texas Rangers 2426.4804+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins 2429.4536
Seattle Mariners 2329.4426+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox 2330.4347
California Angels 2030.4008+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record

Sources:
TeamBALBOSCALCWSCLEDETKCMILMINNYYOAKSEATEXTOR
Baltimore —2–26–63–64–26–75–32–46–07–67–54–22–15–2
Boston 2–2—2–45–47–66–13–36–72–53–37–59–33–64–0
California 6–64–2—6–77–53–30–64–33–32–22–86–42–46–6
Chicago 6–34–57–6—2–53–32–04–12–45–77–63–32–47–5
Cleveland 2–46–75–75–2—1–54–43–62–17–53–28–42–24–2
Detroit 7–61–63–33–35–1—3–25–89–33–71–25–19–36–4
Kansas City 3–53–36–00–24–42–3—4–59–42–103–36–73–45–3
Milwaukee 4–27–63–41–46–38–55–4—9–33–34–22–24–56–4
Minnesota 0–65–23–34–21–23–94–93–9—3–32–83–6–15–85–1
New York 6–73–32–27–55–77–310–23–33–3—4–32–35–42–3
Oakland 5–75–78–26–72–32–13–32–48–23–4—6–14–210–2
Seattle 2–43–94–63–34–81–57–62–26–3–13–21–6—5–83–3
Texas 1–26–34–24–22–23–94–35–48–54–52–48–5—6–2
Toronto 2–50–46–65–72–44–63–54–61–53–22–103–32–6—

Notable transactions

Roster

1981 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

First half

1981 regular season game log: 20–30 (Home: 8–16; Away: 12–14)
April: 3–10 (Home: 1–6; Away: 2–4)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
May: 12–15 (Home: 4–5; Away: 8–10)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
June: 5–5 (Home: 3–5; Away: 2–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Canceled games

1981 regular season game log: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0)
June: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
—June 22 Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—June 23 Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—June 24 Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—June 29@ Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—June 30@ Athletics Canceled (Strike)
July: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
—July 1@ Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—July 2@ Athletics Canceled (Strike)
—July 6@ Brewers Canceled (Strike)
—July 7@ Brewers Canceled (Strike)
—July 8@ Brewers Canceled (Strike)
August: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Second half

1981 regular season game log: 30–23 (Home: 11–12; Away: 19–11)
August: 10–11 (Home: 1–3; Away: 9–8)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
52nd All-Star Game in Cleveland, OH
September: 18–10 (Home: 9–7; Away: 9–3)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
October: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/
Streak
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Postseason Game log

1981 Postseason game log: 0–3 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–1)
AL Western Division Series: vs. Oakland Athletics 0–3 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–1)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceSeriesBox/
Streak
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C John Wathan 8930176.252119
1B Willie Aikens 10134993.2661753
2B Frank White 9436491.250938
SS U L Washington 9833977.227229
3B George Brett 89347109.314643
LF Willie Wilson 102439133.303132
CF Amos Otis 99372100.269957
RF Darryl Motley 4212529.23228
DH Hal McRae 101389106.272736

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
César Gerónimo 5911829.246213
Jamie Quirk 4610025.250010
Clint Hurdle 287625.329415
Jerry Grote 225617.30419
Lee May 265516.29108
Dave Chalk 274911.22405
Rance Mulliniks 244410.22705
Ken Phelps 21223.13601
Danny Garcia 12142.14300
Pat Sheridan 310.00000
Tim Ireland 400----00
Onix Concepción 200----00
Greg Keatley 200----00

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Dennis Leonard 26201.213112.99107
Larry Gura 23172.11182.7261
Rich Gale 19101.2665.4047
Paul Splittorff 2199.0554.3648
Mike Jones 1275.2633.2129

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Jim Wright 1752.0233.4627
Atlee Hammaker 1039.0135.5411
Juan Berenguer 819.2048.6920

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Dan Quisenberry 4014181.7320
Renie Martin 294542.7725
Ken Brett 221124.187
Bill Paschall 20004.501
Jeff Schattinger 10000.001

ALDS

Oakland wins series, 3-0.

GameScoreDate
1Oakland 4, Kansas City 0October 6
2Oakland 2, Kansas City 1October 7
3Oakland 4, Kansas City 1October 9

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Joe Sparks
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Gene Lamont
A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Brian Murphy
A Charleston Royals South Atlantic League Rick Mathews
Rookie GCL Royals Blue Gulf Coast League Joe Jones
Rookie GCL Royals Gold Gulf Coast League Roy Tanner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Royals Gold

Notes

  1. ↑ "Derek Botelho Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. ↑ Cal Ripken, Jr. at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Bombo Rivera at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Dave Leeper at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ David Cone at Baseball Reference

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References


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