1971 Kansas City Royals 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
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMunicipal Stadium
CityKansas City, Missouri
Record85–76
Divisional place2nd
OwnersEwing Kauffman
General managersCedric Tallis
ManagersBob Lemon (first full season)
TelevisionKMBC-TV
RadioKMBZ
(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

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

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Regular season

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Season standings

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AL West
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

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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

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Roster

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1971 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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

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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

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Starting pitchers

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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

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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

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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

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Jack McKeon
AA Elmira Royals Eastern League Harry Malmberg
A San Jose Bees California League Buddy Peterson
A Waterloo Royals Midwest League Steve Boros
Rookie Kingsport Royals Appalachian League Owen Friend
Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Buzzy Keller
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Gary Blaylock

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira, GCL Royals

Notes

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  1. ^ Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ George Brett at Baseball Reference

References

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  • 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.