| 1979 Kansas City Royals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Royals Stadium | |||
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |||
| Record | 85–77 (.525) | |||
| Divisional place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |||
| General managers | Joe Burke | |||
| Managers | Whitey Herzog (fourth full season) | |||
| Television | KBMA (Steve Shannon,Dave Nelson) | |||
| Radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews,Fred White) | |||
| ||||
The1979Kansas City Royals season was their 11th season inMajor League Baseball. The Royals finished second in theAmerican League West at 85–77, three games behind theCalifornia Angels and ending Kansas City's run of three consecutive division titles.Darrell Porter tied a single-season franchise record with 112 runs batted in.George Brett led theAmerican League in hits (212) and triples (20). ManagerWhitey Herzog was fired following the season.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 5 | 44–37 | 39–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | .506 | 6 | 39–42 | 43–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 73 | 87 | .456 | 14 | 33–46 | 40–41 |
| Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 54 | 108 | .333 | 34 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
| 1979 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Darrell Porter | 157 | 533 | 155 | .291 | 20 | 112 | 3 |
| 1B | Pete LaCock | 132 | 408 | 113 | .277 | 3 | 56 | 2 |
| 2B | Frank White | 127 | 467 | 124 | .266 | 10 | 48 | 28 |
| 3B | George Brett | 154 | 645 | 212 | .329 | 23 | 107 | 17 |
| SS | Freddie Patek | 106 | 306 | 77 | .252 | 1 | 37 | 11 |
| LF | Willie Wilson | 154 | 588 | 185 | .315 | 6 | 49 | 83 |
| CF | Al Cowens | 136 | 516 | 152 | .295 | 9 | 73 | 10 |
| RF | Hal McRae | 101 | 393 | 113 | .288 | 10 | 74 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U L Washington | 101 | 268 | 68 | .254 | 2 | 25 |
| John Wathan | 90 | 199 | 41 | .206 | 2 | 28 |
| Clint Hurdle | 59 | 171 | 41 | .240 | 3 | 30 |
| George Scott | 44 | 146 | 39 | .267 | 1 | 20 |
| Todd Cruz | 55 | 118 | 24 | .203 | 2 | 15 |
| Steve Braun | 58 | 116 | 31 | .267 | 4 | 10 |
| Jamie Quirk | 51 | 79 | 24 | .304 | 1 | 11 |
| Jerry Terrell | 31 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 1 | 2 |
| Tom Poquette | 21 | 26 | 5 | .192 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Nettles | 11 | 23 | 2 | .087 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Zdeb | 15 | 23 | 4 | .174 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Gaudet | 3 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Germán Barranca | 5 | 5 | 3 | .600 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Splittorff | 36 | 240.0 | 15 | 17 | 4.24 | 77 |
| Dennis Leonard | 32 | 236.0 | 14 | 12 | 4.08 | 126 |
| Larry Gura | 39 | 233.2 | 13 | 12 | 4.47 | 85 |
| Rich Gale | 34 | 181.2 | 9 | 10 | 5.65 | 103 |
| Craig Chamberlain | 10 | 69.2 | 4 | 4 | 3.75 | 30 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Busby | 22 | 94.1 | 6 | 6 | 3.63 | 45 |
| Marty Pattin | 31 | 94.1 | 5 | 2 | 4.58 | 41 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Hrabosky | 58 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 3.74 | 39 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 32 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3.15 | 13 |
| Steve Mingori | 30 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5.79 | 18 |
| Eduardo Rodríguez | 29 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4.84 | 26 |
| Renie Martin | 25 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5.19 | 25 |
| Bill Paschall | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.59 | 3 |
| Gary Christenson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 4 |
| Craig Eaton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 4 |
| George Throop | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
| Jerry Terrell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |