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 | ||
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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) | |
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AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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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 |
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||
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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 | — |
1977 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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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 | 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 |
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 |
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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 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
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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 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marty Pattin | 31 | 128.1 | 10 | 13 | 3.58 | 55 |
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]
October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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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) |
October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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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) |
October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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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 |
October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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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 |
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 |