1971_Kansas_City_Royals_season
1971 Kansas City Royals season
Major League Baseball team season
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.
| 1971 Kansas City Royals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | |||
| ||||
By comparison, none of the Royals' expansion brethren--the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres--enjoyed a winning season prior to 1978.
- 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]
Season standings
| AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 101 | 60 | 0.627 | — | 46–35 | 55–25 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 76 | 0.528 | 16 | 44–37 | 41–39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 22½ | 39–42 | 40–41 |
| California Angels | 76 | 86 | 0.469 | 25½ | 35–46 | 41–40 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 86 | 0.463 | 26½ | 37–42 | 37–44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 69 | 92 | 0.429 | 32 | 34–48 | 35–44 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- 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
| 1971 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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
| 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
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
Starting pitchers
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
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
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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira, GCL Royals
- Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
- Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
- Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
- George Brett at Baseball Reference
- 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.