List of Kansas City Royals seasons

Last updated April 02, 2024

Kauffman Stadium, home stadium for the Royals since 1973. NewKauffman.jpg — Kauffman Stadium, home stadium for the Royals since 1973.

This is a list of seasons completed by the Kansas City Royals , a professional baseball franchise based in Kansas City, Missouri. They formerly played in the American League West until the 1994 realignment, where they now compete in the American League Central Division.

The team was formed by pharmaceutical executive Ewing Kauffman as a result of the move of the Athletics to Oakland,^[1] and began play in 1969. They quickly became competitive, achieving a winning record in their third season with an 85–76 win–loss record. By 1976, the young team was becoming the dominant force in the American League West, winning 90 or more games in four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978.

Despite two lapses to below 80 wins in the 1980s, the Royals continued to be a strong force, reaching the 1980 World Series (before being defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies),^[2] and winning in 1985 against cross-state rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During that postseason, they became the first team to ever rally from a three games to one deficit twice to win the World Series. The 2016 Chicago Cubs accomplished the same feat, by defeating the Cleveland Indians in a seven-game series.

The team remained competitive throughout the mid-1990s before entering a long period of failure. From 1995 through 2013, the team had only two winning seasons in 2003 and 2013. For 28 consecutive seasons, between the 1985 World Series championship and 2014, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, one of the longest postseason droughts during baseball's expanded wild-card era. The worst years during this era were from 2002 to 2006, when the Royals had four 100-loss seasons out of five.

The team broke its postseason drought by securing the franchise's first ever wild card berth in 2014. They advanced to the 2014 World Series, where they were defeated by the San Francisco Giants in seven games.^[3] The next season, the team would go 95–67, the best record in the American League, securing the franchise's first divisional title since 1985, and the first Central division title ever. The team would eventually advance to the 2015 World Series, where they defeated the New York Mets in five games.^[4]

Table Key

ALWC	American League Wild Card
ALDS	American League Division Series
ALCS	American League Championship Series
MVP	Most Valuable Player Award
CYA	Cy Young Award
ROY	Rookie of the Year Award
MOY	Manager of the Year Award
WS MVP	World Series Most Valuable Player Award

Regular season results

World Series champions †	AL champions *	Division champions ^	Wild card berth (1995–present) ¤

Season	Level	League	Division	Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	GB	Postseason	Awards
1969	MLB	AL	West	4th	69	93	.426	28		Lou Piniella (ROY)
1970	MLB	AL	West	T–4th	65	97	.401	33
1971	MLB	AL	West	2nd	85	76	.528	16
1972	MLB	AL	West	4th	76	78	.494	16½
1973	MLB	AL	West	2nd	88	74	.543	6
1974	MLB	AL	West	5th	77	85	.475	13
1975	MLB	AL	West	2nd	91	71	.562	7
1976	MLB	AL	West ^	1st	90	72	.556	–	Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2
1977	MLB	AL	West ^	1st	102	60	.630	–	Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2
1978	MLB	AL	West ^	1st	92	70	.568	–	Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–1
1979	MLB	AL	West	2nd	85	77	.525	3
1980	MLB	AL *	West ^	1st	97	65	.599	–	Won ALCS (Yankees) 3–0 Lost World Series (Phillies) 4–2 *	George Brett (MVP)
1981	MLB	AL	West	5th	20	30	.400	12	Lost ALDS (Athletics) 3–0
1981	MLB	AL	West	1st ^	30	23	.566	–	Lost ALDS (Athletics) 3–0
1982	MLB	AL	West	2nd	90	72	.556	3
1983	MLB	AL	West	2nd	79	83	.488	20
1984	MLB	AL	West ^	1st	84	78	.519	–	Lost ALCS (Tigers) 3–0
1985	MLB †	AL *	West ^	1st	91	71	.562	–	Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–3 Won World Series (Cardinals) 4–3 †	Bret Saberhagen (CYA, WS MVP)
1986	MLB	AL	West	T–3rd	76	86	.469	16
1987	MLB	AL	West	2nd	83	79	.512	2
1988	MLB	AL	West	3rd	84	77	.522	19½
1989	MLB	AL	West	2nd	92	70	.568	7		Bret Saberhagen (CYA)
1990	MLB	AL	West	6th	75	86	.466	27½
1991	MLB	AL	West	6th	82	80	.506	13
1992	MLB	AL	West	T–5th	72	90	.444	24
1993	MLB	AL	West	3rd	84	78	.519	10
1994	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	64	51	.557	4	Playoffs canceled	Bob Hamelin (ROY) David Cone (CYA)
1995	MLB	AL	Central	2nd	70	74	.486	30
1996	MLB	AL	Central	5th	75	86	.466	24
1997	MLB	AL	Central	5th	67	94	.416	19½
1998	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	72	89	.447	16½
1999	MLB	AL	Central	4th	64	97	.398	32½		Carlos Beltrán (ROY)
2000	MLB	AL	Central	4th	77	85	.475	18
2001	MLB	AL	Central	5th	65	97	.401	26
2002	MLB	AL	Central	4th	62	100	.383	32½
2003	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	83	79	.512	7		Ángel Berroa (ROY) Tony Peña (MOY)
2004	MLB	AL	Central	5th	58	104	.358	34
2005	MLB	AL	Central	5th	56	106	.346	43
2006	MLB	AL	Central	5th	62	100	.383	34
2007	MLB	AL	Central	5th	69	93	.426	27
2008	MLB	AL	Central	4th	75	87	.463	13½
2009	MLB	AL	Central	T–4th	65	97	.401	21½		Zack Greinke (CYA)
2010	MLB	AL	Central	5th	67	95	.414	27
2011	MLB	AL	Central	4th	71	91	.438	24
2012	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	72	90	.444	16
2013	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	86	76	.531	7
2014	MLB	AL *	Central	2nd ¤	89	73	.549	1	Won ALWC (Athletics) Won ALDS (Angels) 3–0 Won ALCS (Orioles) 4–0 Lost World Series (Giants) 4–3 *
2015	MLB †	AL *	Central ^	1st	95	67	.586	—	Won ALDS (Astros) 3–2 Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–2 Won World Series (Mets) 4–1 †	Salvador Pérez (WS MVP)
2016	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	81	81	.500	13½
2017	MLB	AL	Central	3rd	80	82	.494	22
2018	MLB	AL	Central	5th	58	104	.358	33
2019	MLB	AL	Central	4th	59	103	.364	42
2020	MLB	AL	Central	4th	26	34	.433	10
2021	MLB	AL	Central	4th	74	88	.457	19
2022	MLB	AL	Central	5th	65	97	.401	27
2023	MLB	AL	Central	5th	56	106	.346	31
Totals						Wins	Losses	Win%
						4,122	4,547	.475	All-time regular season record (1969–2023)
						40	34	.541	All-time postseason record
						4,162	4,581	.476	All-time regular and postseason record

Record by decade

The following table describes the Royals' MLB win–loss record by decade.

Decade	Wins	Losses	Pct
1960s	69	93	.426
1970s	851	760	.528
1980s	826	734	.529
1990s	725	825	.468
2000s	672	948	.415
2010s	758	862	.468
2020s	221	325	.405
All-time	4122	4547	.475

These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Kansas City Royals History & Encyclopedia.^[5]

Postseason appearances

Year	Wild Card Game/Series	LDS		LCS		World Series
1976	None (Won AL West)			New York Yankees	L (2–3)
1977	None (Won AL West)			New York Yankees	L (2–3)
1978	None (Won AL West)			New York Yankees	L (1–3)
1980	None (Won AL West)			New York Yankees	W (3–0)	Philadelphia Phillies	L (2–4)
1981	None (Won AL West)	Oakland Athletics	L (0–3)
1984	None (Won AL West)			Detroit Tigers	L (0–3)
1985	None (Won AL West)			Toronto Blue Jays	W (4–3)	St. Louis Cardinals	W (4–3)
2014	Oakland Athletics W	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	W (3–0)	Baltimore Orioles	W (4–0)	San Francisco Giants	L (3–4)
2015	None (Won AL Central)	Houston Astros	W (3–2)	Toronto Blue Jays	W (4–2)	New York Mets	W (4–1)

Postseason record by year

The Royals have made the postseason nine times, with the first one being in the 1976 season and the most recent being in 2015.

Year	Finish	Round	Opponent	Result
1976	AL West Champions	ALCS	New York Yankees	Lost	2	3
1977	AL West Champions	ALCS	New York Yankees	Lost	2	3
1978	AL West Champions	ALCS	New York Yankees	Lost	1	3
1980	American League Champions	ALCS	New York Yankees	Won	3	0
1980	American League Champions	World Series	Philadelphia Phillies	Lost	2	4
1981	AL West Champions (second half)	ALDS	Oakland Athletics	Lost	0	3
1984	AL West Champions	ALCS	Detroit Tigers	Lost	0	3
1985	World Series Champions	ALCS	Toronto Blue Jays	Won	4	3
1985	World Series Champions	World Series	St. Louis Cardinals	Won	4	3
2014	American League Champions	Wild Card Game	Oakland Athletics	Won	1	0
		ALDS	Anaheim Angels	Won	3	0
		ALCS	Baltimore Orioles	Won	4	0
		World Series	San Francisco Giants	Lost	3	4
2015	World Series Champions	ALDS	Houston Astros	Won	3	2
		ALCS	Toronto Blue Jays	Won	4	2
		World Series	New York Mets	Won	4	1
9	Totals			9–7	40	34

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References

↑ Gershon, Aaron. "Kansas City Royals (1969-Present)". sportsecyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
↑ "1980 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
↑ "2014 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
↑ "2015 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.
↑ "Kansas City Royals History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.

External links

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[1] Gershon, Aaron. "Kansas City Royals (1969-Present)". sportsecyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.

[2] "1980 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.

[3] "2014 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.

[4] "2015 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved October 28, 2020.

[5] "Kansas City Royals History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.

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