1976 Kansas City Royals season

1976 Kansas City Royals
1976 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1969)
West Division (since 1969)
Location
Royals Stadium (since 1973)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	Joe Burke
Manager(s)	Whitey Herzog
Local television	KBMA (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
Local radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1976 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing first in the American League West with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. They lost in the 1976 American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees, three games to two.

Offseason

• November 10, 1975: Harmon Killebrew was released by the Royals.^[1]
• November 12, 1975: Nelson Briles was traded by the Royals to the Texas Rangers for Dave Nelson.^[2]
• March 3, 1976: Roger Nelson was signed by the Royals as a free agent.^[3]

Regular season

A game at Royals Stadium on Sunday, September 19, 1976. The pitcher is Chris Knapp and the batter is Tom Poquette. The Royals would beat the White Sox 6 to 5.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	90	72	0.556	—	49–32	41–40
Oakland Athletics	87	74	0.540	2½	51–30	36–44
Minnesota Twins	85	77	0.525	5	44–37	41–40
Texas Rangers	76	86	0.469	14	39–42	37–44
California Angels	76	86	0.469	14	38–43	38–43
Chicago White Sox	64	97	0.398	25½	35–45	29–52

Record vs. opponents

1976 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	8–4	8–4	7–11	12–6	6–6	11–7	4–8	13–5	4–8	8–4
Boston	11–7	—	7–5	6–6	9–9	14–4	3–9	12–6	7–5	7–11	4–8	3–9
California	4–8	5–7	—	11–7	7–5	6–6	8–10	4–8	8–10	5–7	6–12	12–6
Chicago	4–8	6–6	7–11	—	3–9	6–6	8–10	7–5	7–11	1–11	8–9	7–11
Cleveland	11–7	9–9	5–7	9–3	—	6–12	6–6	11–6	9–3	4–12	4–8	7–5
Detroit	6–12	4–14	6–6	6–6	12–6	—	4–8	12–6	4–8	9–8	6–6	5–7
Kansas City	6–6	9–3	10–8	10–8	6–6	8–4	—	8–4	10–8	7–5	9–9	7–11
Milwaukee	7–11	6–12	8–4	5–7	6–11	6–12	4–8	—	4–8	5–13	5–7	10–2
Minnesota	8–4	5–7	10–8	11–7	3–9	8–4	8–10	8–4	—	2–10	11–7	11–7
New York	5–13	11–7	7–5	11–1	12–4	8–9	5–7	13–5	10–2	—	6–6	9–3
Oakland	8–4	8–4	12–6	9–8	8–4	6–6	9–9	7–5	7–11	6–6	—	7–11
Texas	4–8	9–3	6–12	11–7	5–7	7–5	11–7	2–10	7–11	3–9	11–7	—

Opening Day lineup

• Dave Nelson, DH
• Amos Otis, CF
• George Brett, 3B
• John Mayberry, 1B
• Hal McRae, LF
• Al Cowens, RF
• Fran Healy, C
• Freddie Patek, SS
• Frank White, 2B

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Bill Paschall was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round.^[4]
  • Ken Phelps was drafted by the Royals in the 15th round.^[5]

Roster

1976 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 29 Doug Bird 35 Tom Bruno 40 Steve Busby 46,49 Jerry Cram 39 Al Fitzmorris 37 Larry Gura 42 Tom Hall 16 Andy Hassler 22 Dennis Leonard 17 Mark Littell 32 Bob McClure 23 Steve Mingori 35 Roger Nelson 33 Marty Pattin 37 Ray Sadecki 28 Ken Sanders 34 Paul Splittorff		Catchers 16 Fran Healy 21 Buck Martinez 15 Bob Stinson 12 John Wathan Infielders  5 George Brett  7 John Mayberry  3 Dave Nelson  2 Freddie Patek  9 Jamie Quirk  1 Cookie Rojas  8 Tony Solaita 20 Frank White		Outfielders 18 Al Cowens 30 Ruppert Jones 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis 25 Tom Poquette 19 Willie Wilson  6 Jim Wohlford Other batters 29 Tommy Davis		Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches 14 Steve Boros 36 Galen Cisco  4 Chuck Hiller 27 Charlie Lau

Player stats

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
1B	Mayberry, JohnJohn Mayberry	161	594	138	.232	13	95
2B	White, FrankFrank White	152	446	102	.229	2	46
3B	Brett, GeorgeGeorge Brett	159	645	215	.333	7	67
SS	Patek, FreddieFreddie Patek	144	432	104	.241	1	43
CF	Otis, AmosAmos Otis	153	592	165	.279	18	86
DH	McRae, HalHal McRae	149	527	175	.332	8	73

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
Stinson, BobBob Stinson	79	209	55	.263	2	25
Nelson, DaveDave Nelson	78	153	36	.235	1	17
Quirk, JamieJamie Quirk	64	114	28	.246	1	15
Healy, FranFran Healy	8	24	3	.125	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
Leonard, DennisDennis Leonard	35	259	17	10	3.51	150
Fitzmorris, AlAl Fitzmorris	35	220.1	15	11	3.06	80
Splittorff, PaulPaul Splittorff	26	158.2	11	8	3.97	59
Hassler, AndyAndy Hassler	19	99.2	5	6	2.89	45
Busby, SteveSteve Busby	13	71.2	3	3	4.40	29

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
Bird, DougDoug Bird	39	197.2	12	10	3.37	107
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin	44	141	8	14	2.49	65

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
Littell, MarkMark Littell	60	8	4	16	2.08	92
Mingori, SteveSteve Mingori	55	5	5	10	2.32	38
Hall, TomTom Hall	31	1	1	1	4.45	25
Gura, LarryLarry Gura	20	4	0	1	2.30	22
Bruno, TomTom Bruno	12	1	0	0	6.75	11
McClure, BobBob McClure	8	0	0	0	9.00	3
Cram, JerryJerry Cram	4	0	0	0	6.23	2
Nelson, RogerRoger Nelson	3	0	0	0	2.08	4
Sadecki, RayRay Sadecki	3	0	0	0	0.00	1

ALCS

Game 1

October 9, 1976 at Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	12	0
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	5	2
W: Catfish Hunter (1-0)   L: Larry Gura (0-1)
HR: None

Game 2

October 10, 1976 at Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	12	5
Kansas City	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	7	9	0
W: Paul Splittorff (1-0)   L: Ed Figueroa (0-1)
HR: None

Game 3

October 12, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
New York	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	X	5	9	0
W: Dock Ellis (1-0)   L: Andy Hassler (0-1)   S: Sparky Lyle (1)
HR: NYY: – Chris Chambliss (1)

Game 4

October 13, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	3	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	7	9	1
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	11	0
W: Doug Bird (1-0)   L: Catfish Hunter (1-1)   S: Steve Mingori (1)
HR: NYY: – Graig Nettles 2 (2)

Game 5

October 14, 1976 at Yankee Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	6	11	1
New York	2	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	7	11	1
W: Dick Tidrow (1-0)   L: Mark Littell (0-1)
HR: KCR: – John Mayberry (1), George Brett (1)   NYY: – Chris Chambliss (2)

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	Billy Gardner
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Bill Scripture
A	Waterloo Royals	Midwest League	John Sullivan
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	José Martínez

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Waterloo

Notes

1. Harmon Killebrew page at Baseball Reference
2. Dave Nelson page at Baseball Reference
3. Roger Nelson page at Baseball Reference
4. Bill Paschall page at Baseball Reference
5. Ken Phelps page at Baseball Reference

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.

External links

• 1976 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference
• 1976 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com