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

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

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	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

Main article: 1980 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

Notes

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

American League champions

American League West champions

1980 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1980 MLB draft 1980 All-Star Game 1980 World Series

Kansas City Royals

Based in Kansas City, Missouri

Franchise

Ballparks

Municipal Stadium; Kauffman Stadium
Spring training: Terry Park; Baseball City Stadium; Surprise Stadium

Culture

Lore

Rivalries

St. Louis Cardinals

Team Hall of Fame

Minors

AAA: Omaha Storm Chasers
AA: Northwest Arkansas Naturals
A Adv.: Wilmington Blue Rocks
A: Lexington Legends
Rookie Adv.: Idaho Falls Chukars; Burlington Royals
Rookie: AZL Royals; DSL Royals

Key personnel

Owner: David Glass
General Manager: Dayton Moore
Manager: Ned Yost

World Series
championships (2)

1985
2015

American League
pennants (4)

Division titles

West: 1976; 1977; 1978; 1980; 1981 (second half); 1984; 1985
Central: 2015
Wild Card: 2014

Seasons (49)

1960s	1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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