Kansas City Royals

Ballparks of the Royals
Municipal Stadium (1969-72); Royals Stadium/Kauffman Stadium (1973-present).

Brown type indicates league leader. Italic type indicates team record. * - World Series champion. # - American League champion. w - Western Division champion. c - Central Division champion. ! - Wild Card entrant.

Year	W	L	PCT	GB	Pos.	BA	R	HR	SB	ERA	Best Hitter	Best Pitcher	Attendance
1969	69	93	.426	28	4	.240	586	98	129	3.72	Joe Foy	Wally Bunker	902,414
1970	65	97	.401	33	T-4	.244	611	97	97	3.78	Amos Otis	Jim Rooker	693,047
1971	85	76	.528	16	2	.250	603	80	130	3.25	Amos Otis	Mike Hedlund	910,784
1972	76	78	.494	16.5	4	.255	580	78	85	3.24	John Mayberry	Roger Nelson	707,656
1973	88	74	.543	6	2	.261	755	114	105	4.19	John Mayberry	Paul Splittorff	1,345,341
1974	77	85	.475	13	5	.259	667	89	146	3.51	Hal McRae	Steve Busby	1,173,292
1975	91	71	.562	7	2	.261	710	118	155	3.47	John Mayberry	Steve Busby	1,151,836
1976	90	72	.556	---	w 1	.269	713	65	218	3.21	Hal McRae	Al Fitzmorris	1,680,285
1977	102	60	.630	---	w 1	.277	822	146	170	3.52	Hal McRae	Dennis Leonard	1,852,603
1978	92	70	.568	---	w 1	.268	743	98	216	3.44	Amos Otis	Larry Gura	2,255,493
1979	85	77	.525	3	2	.282	851	116	207	4.45	George Brett	Dennis Leonard	2,261,845
1980	97	65	.599	---	#w 1	.286	809	115	185	3.83	George Brett	Larry Gura	2,288,714

“George Brett could get good wood on an aspirin.”
—Royals manager Jim Frey

1981	50	53	.485	11	5/1	.267	397	61	100	3.56	George Brett	Larry Gura	1,279,403
1982	90	72	.556	3	2	.285	784	132	133	4.08	Hal McRae	Dan Quisenberry	2,284,464
1983	79	83	.488	20	2	.271	696	109	182	4.25	George Brett	Dan Quisenberry	1,963,875
1984	84	78	.519	---	w 1	.268	673	117	106	3.92	Willie Wilson	Bud Black	1,810,018
1985	91	71	.562	---	#*w 1	.252	684	154	128	3.49	George Brett	Bret Saberhagen	2,162,717
1986	76	86	.469	16	T-3	.252	654	137	97	3.82	George Brett	Danny Jackson	2,320,794
1987	83	79	.512	2	2	.262	715	168	125	3.86	Kevin Seitzer	Bret Saberhagen	2,392,471
1988	84	77	.522	19.5	3	.259	704	121	137	3.65	George Brett	Mark Gubicza	2,350,181
1989	92	70	.568	7	2	.261	690	101	154	3.55	Bo Jackson	Bret Saberhagen	2,477,700
1990	75	86	.466	27.5	6	.267	707	100	107	3.93	George Brett	Kevin Appier	2,244,956
1991	82	80	.506	13	6	.264	727	117	119	3.92	Danny Tartabull	Bret Saberhagen	2,161,537
1992	72	90	.444	24	T-5	.256	610	75	131	3.81	Gregg Jeffries	Kevin Appier	1,867,689
1993	84	78	.519	10	3	.263	675	125	100	4.04	Wally Joyner	Kevin Appier	1,934,578
1994	64	51	.557	4	3	.269	574	100	140	4.23	Bob Hamelin	David Cone	1,400,494

Who's on the Mount Rushmore of the Kansas City Royals?
George Brett > Iconic Royal with 3,000 hits and three batting titles; prime force behind Royals’ two AL pennants to date
Ewing Kauffman > Local magnate who revived Kansas City baseball with expansion Royals and oversaw wise talent growth
Bret Saberhagen > Two-time Cy Young Award winner and breakout star of 1985 world champions
Frank White > Superb second baseman served Royals for nearly 30 years as player, coach and front office employee

1995	70	74	.486	30	2	.260	629	119	120	4.49	Gary Gaetti	Kevin Appier	1,233,530
1996	75	86	.466	24	5	.267	746	123	194	4.55	Jose Offerman	Kevin Appier	1,435,997
1997	67	94	.416	19	5	.264	747	158	130	4.71	Jeff King	Kevin Appier	1,517,638
1998	72	89	.447	16.5	3	.263	714	134	135	5.16	Jose Offerman	Tim Belcher	1,494,875
1999	64	97	.398	32.5	4	.282	856	151	127	5.35	Mike Sweeney	Jose Rosado	1,506,068
2000	77	85	.475	18	4	.288	879	150	121	5.48	Johnny Damon	Mac Suzuki	1,564,847
2001	65	97	.401	26	5	.266	729	152	100	4.87	Carlos Beltran	Roberto Hernandez	1,536,371
2002	62	100	.383	32.5	4	.256	737	140	140	5.21	Mike Sweeney	Paul Byrd	1,323,036
2003	83	79	.512	7	3	.274	836	162	120	5.06	Carlos Beltran	Darrell May	1,779,895
2004	58	104	.358	34	5	.259	720	150	67	5.15	Mike Sweeney	Zack Greinke	1,661,478
2005	56	106	.346	43	5	.263	701	126	53	5.49	Emil Brown	Mike MacDougal	1,371,181
2006	62	100	.383	34	5	.271	757	124	65	5.65	Emil Brown	Mark Redman	1,372,638
2007	69	93	.426	27	5	.261	706	102	78	4.48	David DeJesus	Gil Meche	1,616,867
2008	75	87	.463	13.5	4	.269	691	120	79	4.48	David DeJesus	Joakim Soria	1,578,922
2009	65	97	.401	21.5	T-4	.259	686	144	88	4.83	Billy Butler	Zack Greinke	1,797,891
2010	67	95	.414	27	5	.274	676	121	115	4.97	Billy Butler	Joakim Soria	1,615,327
2011	71	91	.438	24	4	.275	730	129	153	4.44	Alex Gordon	Bruce Chen	1,724,450
2012	72	90	.444	16	3	.265	676	131	132	4.30	Billy Butler	Greg Holland	1,739,859
2013	86	76	.531	7	3	.260	648	112	153	3.45	Eric Hosmer	Greg Holland	1,750,754
2014	89	73	.549	1	# ! 2	.263	651	95	153	3.51	Alex Gordon	Greg Holland	1,956,482
2015	95	67	.586	---	#*c 1	.269	724	139	104	3.73	Eric Hosmer	Wade Davis	2,708,549
2016	81	81	.500	13.5	3	.261	675	147	121	4.21	Eric Hosmer	Danny Duffy	2,557,712
2017	80	82	.494	22	3	.259	702	193	91	4.61	Eric Hosmer	Jason Vargas	2,220,370
2018	58	104	.358	33	5	.245	638	155	117	4.94	Whit Merrifield	Brad Keller	1,665,107

How does This Great Game determine the best hitters and pitchers? Find out here.

Highlights of the Royals' History on This Great Game:

1980: Finally Philly The Royals meet up in the World Series against the long-suffering Philadelphia Phillies following a memorable campaign highlighted by George Brett's quest to become baseball's first .400 hitter since Ted Williams.

1985: The Missouri Stakes The Royals and St. Louis Cardinals survive tight pennant races and league championship series to meet in an inner-state Fall Classic—the fate of which is determined by one of baseball's most blatant and crucial blown calls.

2015: A Royal Silencing of the Doubters Perplexed over a lack of respect, the Royals get mad and even by proving the prognosticators wrong with a well-deserved world title.

Share this page with a friend.

Have a comment, question or request? Contact us at This Great Game.

The Royals by the Decade

1960s The Royals were born out of the 1967 move of the Kansas City A’s to Oakland, which riled local politicians threatening to take a second look at baseball’s antitrust exemption. The short-term pain would be the absence of K.C. baseball in 1968, but the long-term gain would be new owner Ewing Kauffman, who quickly built up a solid front office and farm system—and would prove to be a far more likeable owner than intolerable A’s lord Charlie Finley. The new team name, Royals—chosen out of a contest of 17,000 entries—was derived from the town’s popular livestock event, the American Royal.

1970s Earning quick respect, the Royals shed their infant losing ways after just two years and emerged as a viable contender; sparkling new Royals Stadium—the lone baseball-only facility constructed between 1962 and 1991—complimented the team’s kinetic collection of offensive talent, led by George Brett, Amos Otis and Hal McRae, with its artificial turf and spacious dimensions. As the A’s dynasty crashed in the mid-1970s, the Royals took over—winning three straight AL West titles, only to lose each time in the ALCS to the New York Yankees.

1980s The Royals had a memorable start to the decade, experiencing Brett’s flirtation with .400 while finally tearing the ALCS monkey off their back with a sweep of the Yankees. They won the pennant again in 1985, this time earning their only world title to date with a controversial seven-game triumph over cross-state rival St. Louis behind the remarkable pitching of 21-year-old Bret Saberhagen. The brief sensation that was the powerful, multi-sport Bo Jackson highlighted the late 1980s, though he brought no postseason activity to Kansas City.

1990s Lean times slowly took over as the veterans of lore faded out; making matters worse, baseball’s intensified obsession with amassing team revenues through new ballparks and television deals left small-market Kansas City increasingly behind in the financial rat race. Still, the Royals held their own as best they could despite the lack of a new wave of offensive talent to match the glory of the 1970s. The pitching remained solid thanks to the year-in, year-out efforts of Kevin Appier and (more briefly) closer Jeff Montgomery.

2000s Despite the long-overdue influx of stellar bats in the lineup (including Carlos Beltran, Mike Sweeney, Raul Ibanez and Johnny Damon), the Royals were frequently crashing and burning in the standings, losing 100-plus games four times during the decade while managing just one winning season in 2003 when, through some strange anomaly, the Royals forged a 83-79 record in between two 100-loss campaigns. There at least was improvement in the architectural sphere when, in 2009, Royals Stadium (now renamed Kauffman Stadium) was given a major makeover.

2010s Through their vaunted minor league system, the Royals began the decade aggressively building from within; the bats in place, the pitching followed and by mid-decade a long overdue run of success ensued with back-to-back AL pennants—the latter of which was capped by their first world title in three decades, using feisty hitting, opportunistic baserunning and a lights-out bullpen to disassemble the New York Mets in five games at the 2015 World Series. Ultimately, much of the homegrown talent would qualify for free agency—and the Royals, pleading small-market status, couldn’t (or wouldn’t) re-sign them. Thus the team has spiraled back into baseball’s abyss