1977_Kansas_City_Royals_season
1977 Kansas City Royals season
Major League Baseball team season
The 1977 Kansas City Royals season was their ninth in Major League Baseball. The Royals' franchise-best 102–60 record led the majors and Kansas City won its second consecutive American League West title. Once again, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees in the postseason, falling 3–2 in the ALCS. Hal McRae led the American League in doubles, with 54. Al Cowens set a franchise single-season record with 112 runs batted in.
| 1977 Kansas City Royals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American League West Champions | ||||
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Royals Stadium | |||
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |||
| Record | 102–60 (.630) | |||
| Divisional place | 1st | |||
| Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |||
| General managers | Joe Burke | |||
| Managers | Whitey Herzog (second full season) | |||
| Television | KBMA | |||
| Radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White) | |||
| ||||
- November 5, 1976: Ruppert Jones was drafted from the Royals by the Seattle Mariners with the first pick in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft.[1]
- December 6, 1976: Jamie Quirk, Jim Wohlford and a player to be named later were traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jim Colborn and Darrell Porter. The Kansas City Royals completed the trade by sending Bob McClure to the Brewers on March 15, 1977.[2]
- December 7, 1976: Frank Ortenzio was traded by the Royals to the Montreal Expos for Rudy Kinard (minors).[3]
Season standings
| AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 102 | 60 | 0.630 | — | 55–26 | 47–34 |
| Texas Rangers | 94 | 68 | 0.580 | 8 | 44–37 | 50–31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 90 | 72 | 0.556 | 12 | 48–33 | 42–39 |
| Minnesota Twins | 84 | 77 | 0.522 | 17½ | 48–32 | 36–45 |
| California Angels | 74 | 88 | 0.457 | 28 | 39–42 | 35–46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 64 | 98 | 0.395 | 38 | 29–52 | 35–46 |
| Oakland Athletics | 63 | 98 | 0.391 | 38½ | 35–46 | 28–52 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–8 | 5–6 | 5–5 | 11–4 | 12–3 | 4–7 | 11–4 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 |
| Boston | 8–6 | — | 7–3 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 8–3 | 10–1 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| California | 6–5 | 3–7 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 4–7 | 5–10 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 6–4 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 7–3 | 7–8 | — | 6–4 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 3–7 | 10–5 | 10–5 | 6–9 | 8–3 |
| Cleveland | 4–11 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–6 | — | 8–7 | 3–7 | 11–4 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 2–9 | 9–5 |
| Detroit | 3–12 | 6–9 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 7–8 | — | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 2–8 | 10–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–4 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 7–3 | 8–3 | — | 8–2 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 |
| Milwaukee | 4–11 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 4–11 | 5–10 | 2–8 | — | 3–8 | 8–7 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 8–7 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 5–10 | 9–2 | 5–5 | 5–10 | 8–3 | — | 2–8 | 8–6 | 7–8 | 8–7 | 9–1 |
| New York | 7–8 | 7–8 | 7–4 | 7–3 | 12–3 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 8–2 | — | 9–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Oakland | 2–8 | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 6–8 | 2–9 | — | 7–8 | 2–13 | 7–3 |
| Seattle | 3–7 | 1–10 | 6–9 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 8–7 | — | 9–6 | 4–6 |
| Texas | 6–4 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–6 | 9–2 | 8–2 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 3–7 | 13–2 | 6–9 | — | 7–4 |
| Toronto | 5–10 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 3–8 | 5–9 | 5–10 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | — |
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- May 27, 1977: Tim Ireland was signed as a free agent by the Royals.[4]
Roster
| 1977 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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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 | Darrell Porter | 130 | 425 | 117 | .275 | 16 | 60 |
| 1B | John Mayberry | 153 | 543 | 125 | .230 | 23 | 82 |
| 2B | Frank White | 152 | 474 | 116 | .245 | 5 | 50 |
| 3B | George Brett | 139 | 564 | 176 | .312 | 22 | 88 |
| SS | Freddie Patek | 154 | 497 | 130 | .262 | 5 | 60 |
| LF | Tom Poquette | 106 | 342 | 100 | .292 | 2 | 33 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 142 | 478 | 120 | .251 | 17 | 78 |
| RF | Al Cowens | 162 | 606 | 189 | .312 | 23 | 112 |
| DH | Hal McRae | 162 | 641 | 191 | .298 | 21 | 92 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete LaCock | 88 | 218 | 66 | .303 | 3 | 29 |
| Joe Zdeb | 105 | 195 | 58 | .297 | 2 | 23 |
| Cookie Rojas | 64 | 156 | 39 | .250 | 0 | 10 |
| John Wathan | 55 | 119 | 39 | .328 | 2 | 21 |
| Buck Martinez | 29 | 80 | 18 | .225 | 1 | 9 |
| Joe Lahoud | 34 | 65 | 17 | .262 | 2 | 8 |
| Bob Heise | 54 | 62 | 16 | .258 | 0 | 5 |
| Dave Nelson | 27 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 0 | 4 |
| Willie Wilson | 13 | 34 | 11 | .324 | 0 | 1 |
| U L Washington | 10 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Clint Hurdle | 9 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 2 | 7 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Leonard | 38 | 292.2 | 20 | 12 | 3.04 | 244 |
| Jim Colborn | 36 | 239.0 | 18 | 14 | 3.62 | 103 |
| Paul Splittorff | 37 | 229.0 | 16 | 6 | 3.69 | 99 |
| Andy Hassler | 29 | 156.1 | 9 | 6 | 4.20 | 83 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Bird | 53 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 3.88 | 83 |
| Larry Gura | 52 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 3.13 | 46 |
| Mark Littell | 48 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3.58 | 55 |
| Steve Mingori | 43 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3.09 | 19 |
| Tom Hall | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.52 | 10 |
| George Throop | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 1 |
| Randy McGilberry | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.14 | 1 |
| Gary Lance | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |
Before they were to play a game on June 12 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium, thieves stole gloves and uniforms belonging to Royals players. Due to this, all but seven Kansas City Royals players had to wear Milwaukee road uniforms for the game played that day.[5]
Game 1
October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Paul Splittorff (1–0) L: Don Gullett (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HRs: KC – Hal McRae (1), John Mayberry (1), Al Cowens (1) NYY – Thurman Munson (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Ron Guidry (1–0) L: Andy Hassler (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HRs: KC – none; NYY – Cliff Johnson (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Kansas City | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Dennis Leonard (1–0) L: Mike Torrez (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HRs: NYY – none; KC – none | ||||||||||||
Game 4
October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 0 |
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Sparky Lyle (1–0) L: Larry Gura (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HRs: NYY – none; KC – none | ||||||||||||
Game 5
October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Kansas City | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Sparky Lyle (2–0) L: Dennis Leonard (1–1) | ||||||||||||
| HRs: NYY – none; KC – none | ||||||||||||
- Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference
- Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
- Frank Ortenzio at Baseball Reference
- Tim Ireland at Baseball Reference
- 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.
- 1977 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1977 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac