1981 Kansas City Royals season

1981 Kansas City Royals
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 and Dick Howser
Local television	WDAF-TV (Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Local radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1981 Kansas City Royals season was their 13th in Major League Baseball. The 1981 season was interrupted by a players strike from June 12-July 31, and resumed on August 10. Major League Baseball officials decided to split the season, and the division winners of both halves would advance to the playoffs. The Royals were 20-30 and in fifth place in the American League West when the strike began, but won the second half with a 30-23 mark. Dick Howser replaced Jim Frey as manager on August 31. Kansas City's overall 50-53 record made the Royals the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason with a losing mark. Kansas City lost to the first half American League West winner Oakland Athletics 3-0 in the Division Series.

Offseason[]

• January 6, 1981: Derek Botelho was signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.^[1]

Regular season[]

• August 10, 1981: Cal Ripken, Jr. made his major league debut for the Baltimore Orioles in a game against the Royals.^[2]

Season standings[]

v t AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	64	45	0.587	—	35–21	29–24
Texas Rangers	57	48	0.543	5	32–24	25–24
Chicago White Sox	54	52	0.509	8½	25–24	29–28
Kansas City Royals	50	53	0.485	11	19–28	31–25
California Angels	51	59	0.464	13½	26–28	25–31
Seattle Mariners	44	65	0.404	20	20–37	24–28
Minnesota Twins	41	68	0.376	23	24–36	17–32

Record vs. opponents[]

1981 American League Records v t 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	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Notable transactions[]

• April 3, 1981: Bombo Rivera was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[3]
• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dave Leeper was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (23rd pick). Player signed June 10, 1981.^[4]
  • David Cone was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round. Player signed June 10, 1981.^[5]

Roster[]

1981 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers 37 Juan Berenguer 25 Ken Brett 38 Rich Gale 32 Larry Gura 33 Atlee Hammaker 40 Mike Jones 22 Dennis Leonard 27 Renie Martin 28 Bill Paschall 29 Dan Quisenberry 31 Jeff Schattinger 34 Paul Splittorff 21 Jim Wright		Catchers 15 Jerry Grote 39 Greg Keatley  9 Jamie Quirk 12 John Wathan Infielders 24 Willie Aikens  5 George Brett  7 Dave Chalk  2 Onix Concepción 17 Tim Ireland 14 Lee May 18 Rance Mulliniks 16,52 Ken Phelps 30 U L Washington 20 Frank White		Outfielders 45 Danny Garcia 23 César Gerónimo 10 Clint Hurdle  4 Darryl Motley 26 Amos Otis 37 Pat Sheridan  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 11 Hal McRae		Manager 41 Jim Frey 21 Dick Howser Coaches 36 Billy Connors 43 Gordon Mackenzie 42 José Martínez -- Rick Renick 44 Jimmie Schaffer

Player stats[]

Batting[]

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
SS	U L Washington	98	339	77	.227	2	29
1B	Willie Aikens	101	349	93	.266	17	53

Other batters[]

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
César Gerónimo	59	118	29	.246	2	13
Jamie Quirk	46	100	25	.250	0	10
Tim Ireland	4	0	0	.---	0	0
Onix Concepción	2	0	0	.---	0	0

Pitching[]

Starting pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Jones	12	75.2	6	3	3.21	29

Other pitchers[]

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers[]

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bill Paschall	2	0	0	0	4.50	1

ALDS[]

Oakland wins series, 3-0.

Game	Score	Date
1	Oakland 4, Kansas City 0	October 6
2	Oakland 2, Kansas City 1	October 7
3	Oakland 4, Kansas City 1	October 9

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	Rick Mathews
Rookie	GCL Royals Blue	Gulf Coast League	Joe Jones
Rookie	GCL Royals Gold	Gulf Coast League	Roy Tanner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Royals Gold

Notes[]

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[]

• 1981 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
• 1981 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac