1980 Kansas City Royals season

The 1980 Kansas City Royals season was their 12th in Major League Baseball. The Royals, under new manager Jim Frey, finished first in the American League West with a record of 97-65. Kansas City finally broke through in the postseason, sweeping the New York Yankees 3-0 in the 1980 American League Championship Series after falling to the Yankees in the ALCS in 1976, 1977 and 1978. The Royals lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in the World Series.

1980 Kansas City Royals
1980 AL West Champions
1980 AL Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)Joe Burke
Manager(s)Jim Frey (first season)
Local televisionWDAF-TV
(Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Local radioWIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
< Previous season     Next season >

George Brett had one of the best seasons in Major League Baseball history. Brett became the first Royals player to win a Most Valuable Player award, and his league-leading .390 batting average was the highest in the majors since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Brett also led the team in home runs (24) and set a single-season franchise record with 118 runs batted in.

Offseason

Regular season

On September 30, while pitching for the Seattle Mariners against the Royals, Rick Honeycutt taped a thumbtack to his finger to cut the ball. Royals baserunner Willie Wilson spotted the tack from second base. The umpires investigated and not only found the tack, but also a gash in Honeycutt's forehead. Honeycutt was ejected from the game, suspended for 10 games, and fined.[2]

Opening Day starters

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9765 0.599 — 49–32 48–33
Oakland Athletics 8379 0.512 14 46–35 37–44
Minnesota Twins 7784 0.478 19½ 44–36 33–48
Texas Rangers 7685 0.472 20½ 39–41 37–44
Chicago White Sox 7090 0.438 26 37–42 33–48
California Angels 6595 0.406 31 30–51 35–44
Seattle Mariners 59103 0.364 38 36–45 23–58

Record vs. opponents
1980 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–510–26–66–710–36–67–610–27–67–56–66–611–2
Boston 5–8—9–36–47–68–55–76–76–63–109–37–55–77–6
California 2–103–9—3–104–65–75–86–67–62–103–1011–211–23–9
Chicago 6–64–610–3—5–72–105–85–75–85–76–76–76–7–25–7
Cleveland 7–66–76–47–5—3–105–73–109–35–86–68–46–68–5
Detroit 3–105–87–510–210–3—2–107–66–65–86–610–2–14–89–4
Kansas City 6–67–58–58–57–510–2—6–65–88–46–77–610–39–3
Milwaukee 6–77–66–67–510–36–76–6—7–55–87–59–35–75–8
Minnesota 2–106–66–78–53–96–68–55–7—4–86–77–69–37–5
New York 6–710–310–27–58–58–54–88–58–4—8–49–37–510–3
Oakland 5–73–910–37–66–66–67–65–77–64–8—8–57–68–4
Seattle 6–65–72–117–64–82–10–16–73–96–73–95–8—4–96–6
Texas 6–67–52–117–6–26–68–43–107–53–95–76–79–4—7–5
Toronto 2–116–79–37–55–84–93–98–55–73–104–86–65–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1980 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

  • 42 José Martínez

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
CDarrell Porter11841851104142.2497511
1BWillie Aikens15154370151240.27820981
2BFrank White15456070148234.26476019
3BGeorge Brett11744987175339.3902411815
SSU L Washington153549791501611.27365320
LFWillie Wilson1617051332302815.32634979
CFAmos Otis1073945699163.251105316
RFClint Hurdle13039550116312.29410600
DHHal McRae12448973145395.297148310

[7]

Other batters

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H Avg. HR RBI SB
John Wathan12645357138.30565817
Dave Chalk691671942.2511201
Jamie Quirk621631345.2765213
Pete LaCock1141561432.2051181
Rusty Torres51721012.167031
Rance Mulliniks3654814.259060
José Cardenal2553818.340050
Bob Detherage202628.308171
Steve Braun142301.043010
Jerry Terrell221641.063000
Onix Concepción121512.133020
Manny Castillo71012.200000
Ken Phelps3400.000000
Germán Barranca7030----000

[7]

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA BB SO
Larry Gura36283.118102.9576113
Dennis Leonard38280.120113.7980155
Paul Splittorff3420414114.154353
Rich Gale32190.21393.927897

[7]

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA BB SO
Renie Martin32137.1101024.397068
Steve Busby1142.11306.171912
Mike Jones34.201011.5752

[7]

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA BB SO
Dan Quisenberry75128.1127333.092737
Marty Pattin37894043.642340
Gary Christenson2431.13015.171816
Jeff Twitty1322.12106.0479
Rawly Eastwick14220105.3285
Ken Brett813.10010.0054
Craig Chamberlain59.10106.7553
Jerry Terrell110000.0010

[7]

Postseason

ALCS
Main article: 1980 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 8 Royals Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 020 000 000 2101
Kansas City 022 000 12X 7100
W: Larry Gura (1-0)  L: Ron Guidry (0-1)  
HRs: NYY – Rick Cerone (1) Lou Piniella (1)   KCR – George Brett (1)

Game 2

October 9 Royals Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 000 020 000 280
Kansas City 003 000 00X 360
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0)  L: Rudy May (0-1)  S: Dan Quisenberry (1)
HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles

Game 3

October 10 Yankee Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 000 010 300 4121
New York 000 002 000 280
W: Dan Quisenberry (1-0)  L: Rich Gossage (0-1)
HRs: KCR – George Brett (2) Frank White (1)

World Series
Main article: 1980 World Series

NL Philadelphia Phillies (4) vs. AL Kansas City Royals (2)

Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1Royals – 6, Phillies – 7October 14Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)65,7913:01
2Royals – 4, Phillies – 6October 15Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)65,7753:01
3Phillies – 3, Royals – 4 (10 inns)October 17Royals Stadium (Kansas City)42,3803:19
4Phillies – 3, Royals – 5October 18Royals Stadium (Kansas City)42,3632:37
5Phillies – 4, Royals – 3October 19Royals Stadium (Kansas City)42,3692:51
6Royals – 1, Phillies – 4October 21Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)65,8383:00

Awards and honors

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Joe Sparks
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Gene Lamont
A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Brian Murphy
A Charleston Royals South Atlantic League Ron Mihal
Rookie GCL Royals Blue Gulf Coast League Joe Jones
Rookie GCL Royals Gold Gulf Coast League Roy Tanner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Royals Blue

Notes
  1. Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
  2. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html
  3. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1980&t=KCA
  4. Eduardo Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
  5. Mark Huismann at Baseball Reference
  6. Kevin Kobel at Baseball Reference
  7. 1980 Kansas City Royals Statistics and Roster Baseball-Reference.com
  8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_hut.shtml

References
  • 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.
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