1980 Kansas City Royals season

1980 Kansas City Royals
1980 AL West Champions 1980 AL 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)	Jim Frey
Local television	WDAF-TV (Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Local radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1980 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. The Royals finished first in the American League West with a record of 97 wins and 65 losses. They went on to sweep the New York Yankees in the ALCS, then lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980 World Series, four games to two.

One of the highlights of the season was George Brett winning the American League batting title. Brett's .390 batting average was the highest in the majors since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

Offseason

• October 26, 1979: Keith Drumright was acquired by the Royals from the Houston Astros to complete an earlier deal (the Astros sent a player to be named later to the Royals for George Throop) made on April 27, 1979.^[1]

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

• Willie Aikens
• George Brett
• Clint Hurdle
• Pete LaCock
• Dennis Leonard
• Hal McRae
• Jamie Quirk
• U L Washington
• Frank White
• Willie Wilson^[3]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	97	65	0.599	—	49–32	48–33
Oakland Athletics	83	79	0.512	14	46–35	37–44
Minnesota Twins	77	84	0.478	19½	44–36	33–48
Texas Rangers	76	85	0.472	20½	39–41	37–44
Chicago White Sox	70	90	0.438	26	37–42	33–48
California Angels	65	95	0.406	31	30–51	35–44
Seattle Mariners	59	103	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	—	8–5	10–2	6–6	6–7	10–3	6–6	7–6	10–2	7–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	9–3	6–4	7–6	8–5	5–7	6–7	6–6	3–10	9–3	7–5	5–7	7–6
California	2–10	3–9	—	3–10	4–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	7–6	2–10	3–10	11–2	11–2	3–9
Chicago	6–6	4–6	10–3	—	5–7	2–10	5–8	5–7	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–7	6–7–2	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	6–4	7–5	—	3–10	5–7	3–10	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	6–6	8–5
Detroit	3–10	5–8	7–5	10–2	10–3	—	2–10	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	10–2–1	4–8	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	10–2	—	6–6	5–8	8–4	6–7	7–6	10–3	9–3
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	6–6	7–5	10–3	6–7	6–6	—	7–5	5–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	5–8
Minnesota	2–10	6–6	6–7	8–5	3–9	6–6	8–5	5–7	—	4–8	6–7	7–6	9–3	7–5
New York	6–7	10–3	10–2	7–5	8–5	8–5	4–8	8–5	8–4	—	8–4	9–3	7–5	10–3
Oakland	5–7	3–9	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	7–6	5–7	7–6	4–8	—	8–5	7–6	8–4
Seattle	6–6	5–7	2–11	7–6	4–8	2–10–1	6–7	3–9	6–7	3–9	5–8	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	6–6	7–5	2–11	7–6–2	6–6	8–4	3–10	7–5	3–9	5–7	6–7	9–4	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	6–7	9–3	7–5	5–8	4–9	3–9	8–5	5–7	3–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 5, 1980: Eduardo Rodríguez was released by the Royals.^[4]
• June 16, 1980: Mark Huismann was signed by the Royals as an amateur free agent.^[5]
• June 17, 1980: Randy McGilberry was traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Kevin Kobel.^[6]
• August 1980: Keith Drumright was purchased from the Royals by the Chicago Cubs.^[1]

Roster

1980 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 25 Ken Brett 40 Steve Busby 28 Craig Chamberlain 31 Gary Christenson 35 Rawly Eastwick 38 Rich Gale 32 Larry Gura 50 Mike Jones 22 Dennis Leonard 27 Renie Martin 33 Marty Pattin 29 Dan Quisenberry 34 Paul Splittorff 21 Jeff Twitty		Catchers 15 Darrell Porter 12 John Wathan Infielders 24 Willie Aikens  5 George Brett 17 Manny Castillo  7 Dave Chalk 53,2 Onix Concepción  8 Pete LaCock 18 Rance Mulliniks 52 Ken Phelps  9 Jamie Quirk 30 U L Washington 20 Frank White		Outfielders  3 Steve Braun 19 José Cardenal  4 Bob Detherage 10 Clint Hurdle 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis  1 Jerry Terrell  2 Rusty Torres  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 23 Germán Barranca		Manager 41 Jim Frey Coaches 36 Billy Connors 43 Gordon Mackenzie 42 José Martínez 44 Jimmie Schaffer

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

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
C	Porter, DarrellDarrell Porter	118	418	51	104	14	2	.249	7	51	1
1B	Aikens, WillieWillie Aikens	151	543	70	151	24	0	.278	20	98	1
2B	White, FrankFrank White	154	560	70	148	23	4	.264	7	60	19
3B	Brett, GeorgeGeorge Brett	117	449	87	175	33	9	.390	24	118	15
SS	Washington, U LU L Washington	153	549	79	150	16	11	.273	6	53	20
LF	Wilson, WillieWillie Wilson	161	705	133	230	28	15	.326	3	49	79
CF	Otis, AmosAmos Otis	107	394	56	99	16	3	.251	10	53	16
RF	Hurdle, ClintClint Hurdle	130	395	50	116	31	2	.294	10	60	0
DH	McRae, HalHal McRae	124	489	73	145	39	5	.297	14	83	10

^[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
Wathan, JohnJohn Wathan	126	453	57	138	.305	6	58	17
Chalk, DaveDave Chalk	69	167	19	42	.251	1	20	1
Quirk, JamieJamie Quirk	62	163	13	45	.276	5	21	3
LaCock, PetePete LaCock	114	156	14	32	.205	1	18	1
Torres, RustyRusty Torres	51	72	10	12	.167	0	3	1
Mulliniks, RanceRance Mulliniks	36	54	8	14	.259	0	6	0
Cardenal, JoséJosé Cardenal	25	53	8	18	.340	0	5	0
Detherage, BobBob Detherage	20	26	2	8	.308	1	7	1
Braun, SteveSteve Braun	14	23	0	1	.043	0	1	0
Terrell, JerryJerry Terrell	22	16	4	1	.063	0	0	0
Concepción, OnixOnix Concepción	12	15	1	2	.133	0	2	0
Castillo, MannyManny Castillo	7	10	1	2	.200	0	0	0
Phelps, KenKen Phelps	3	4	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Barranca, GermánGermán Barranca	7	0	3	0	----	0	0	0

^[7]

Pitching

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
Gura, LarryLarry Gura	36	283.1	18	10	2.95	76	113
Leonard, DennisDennis Leonard	38	280.1	20	11	3.79	80	155
Splittorff, PaulPaul Splittorff	34	204	14	11	4.15	43	53
Gale, RichRich Gale	32	190.2	13	9	3.92	78	97

^[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
Martin, RenieRenie Martin	32	137.1	10	10	2	4.39	70	68
Busby, SteveSteve Busby	11	42.1	1	3	0	6.17	19	12
Jones, MikeMike Jones	3	4.2	0	1	0	11.57	5	2

^[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
Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry	75	128.1	12	7	33	3.09	27	37
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin	37	89	4	0	4	3.64	23	40
Christenson, GaryGary Christenson	24	31.1	3	0	1	5.17	18	16
Twitty, JeffJeff Twitty	13	22.1	2	1	0	6.04	7	9
Eastwick, RawlyRawly Eastwick	14	22	0	1	0	5.32	8	5
Brett, KenKen Brett	8	13.1	0	0	1	0.00	5	4
Chamberlain, CraigCraig Chamberlain	5	9.1	0	1	0	6.75	5	3
Terrell, JerryJerry Terrell	1	1	0	0	0	0.00	1	0

^[7]

Postseason

ALCS

Game 1

October 8 Royals Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	1
Kansas City	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	2	X	7	10	0
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	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Kansas City	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	6	0
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	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	4	12	1
New York	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	8	0
W: Dan Quisenberry (1-0)  L: Rich Gossage (0-1)
HRs: KCR – George Brett (2) Frank White (1)

World Series

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

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Royals – 6, Phillies – 7	October 14	Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)	65,791	3:01
2	Royals – 4, Phillies – 6	October 15	Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)	65,775	3:01
3	Phillies – 3, Royals – 4 (10 inns)	October 17	Royals Stadium (Kansas City)	42,380	3:19
4	Phillies – 3, Royals – 5	October 18	Royals Stadium (Kansas City)	42,363	2:37
5	Phillies – 4, Royals – 3	October 19	Royals Stadium (Kansas City)	42,369	2:51
6	Royals – 1, Phillies – 4	October 21	Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)	65,838	3:00

Awards and honors

• George Brett – American League Batting Champion (.390)
• George Brett, Hutch Award^[8]

Farm system

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 page 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 page at Baseball Reference
5. Mark Huismann page at Baseball Reference
6. Kevin Kobel page 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.

External links

• 1980 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference
• 1980 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com