1979 Kansas City Royals season

The 1979 Kansas City Royals season was their 11th season in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 85-77, three games behind the California 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 the American League in hits (212) and triples (20). Manager Whitey Herzog was fired following the season.

1979 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersEwing Kauffman
General managersJoe Burke
ManagersWhitey Herzog (fourth full season)
Local televisionKBMA
(Steve Shannon, Dave Nelson)
Local radioWIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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Offseason

Regular season

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 8874 0.543 — 49–32 39–42
Kansas City Royals 8577 0.525 3 46–35 39–42
Texas Rangers 8379 0.512 5 44–37 39–42
Minnesota Twins 8280 0.506 6 39–42 43–38
Chicago White Sox 7387 0.456 14 33–46 40–41
Seattle Mariners 6795 0.414 21 36–45 31–50
Oakland Athletics 54108 0.333 34 31–50 23–58

Record vs. opponents
1979 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —8–59–38–38–57–66–68–58–45–68–410–26–611–2
Boston 5–8—5–75–66–78–58–48–49–35–89–38–46–69–4
California 3–97–5—9–46–64–87–67–59–47–510–37–65–87–5
Chicago 3–86–54–9—6–63–95–85–75–84–89–45–811–27–5
Cleveland 5–87–66–66–6—6–66–64–98–45–88–47–55–78–5
Detroit 6–75–88–49–36–6—5–76–74–87–67–57–56–69–4
Kansas City 6–64–86–78–56–67–5—5–77–65–79–47–66–79–3
Milwaukee 5–84–85–77–59–47–67–5—8–49–46–69–39–310–3
Minnesota 4–83–94–98–54–88–46–74–8—7–59–410–34–911–1
New York 6–58–55–78–48–56–77–54–95–7—9–36–68–49–4
Oakland 4–83–93–104–94–85–74–96–64–93–9—8–52–114–8
Seattle 2–104–86–78–55–75–76–73–93–106–65–8—6–78–4
Texas 6–66–68–52–117–56–67–63–99–44–811–27–6—7–5
Toronto 2–114–95–75–75–84–93–93–101–114–98–44–85–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1979 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CDarrell Porter157533155.29120112
1BPete LaCock132408113.277356
2BFrank White127467124.2661048
3BGeorge Brett154645212.32923107
SSFreddie Patek10630677.252137
LFWillie Wilson154588185.315649
CFAl Cowens136516152.295973
RFHal McRae101393113.2881074

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
U L Washington10126868.254225
John Wathan9019941.206228
Clint Hurdle5917141.240330
George Scott4414639.267120
Todd Cruz5511824.203215
Steve Braun5811631.267410
Jamie Quirk517924.304111
Jerry Terrell314012.30012
Tom Poquette21265.19203
Jim Nettles11232.08701
Joe Zdeb15234.17400
Jim Gaudet361.16700
Germán Barranca553.60000

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
Paul Splittorff36240.015174.2477
Dennis Leonard32236.014124.08126
Larry Gura39233.213124.4785
Rich Gale34181.29105.65103
Craig Chamberlain1069.2443.7530

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
Steve Busby2294.1663.6345
Marty Pattin3194.1524.5841

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
Al Hrabosky5894113.7439
Dan Quisenberry323253.1513
Steve Mingori303315.7918
Eduardo Rodríguez294124.8426
Renie Martin250355.1925
Bill Paschall70106.593
Gary Christenson60003.384
Craig Eaton50002.704
George Throop400013.501
Jerry Terrell10000.000

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Gordon Mackenzie
AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Joe Jones
A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Gene Lamont
Rookie GCL Royals Blue Gulf Coast League Brian Murphy
Rookie GCL Royals Gold Gulf Coast League José Martínez

Notes
  1. Mike Bielecki at Baseball Reference
  2. Eduardo Rodríguez page on Baseball Reference
  3. Todd Cruz at Baseball Reference
  4. Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference
  5. Atlee Hammaker at Baseball Reference
  6. "4th Round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft".
  7. "18th Round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft".

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.
  • 1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
  • 1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac
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