List of Kansas City Royals seasons

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Kauffman Stadium, home stadium for the Royals since 1973.

This is a list of seasons completed by the Kansas City Royals, a professional baseball franchise based in Kansas City, Missouri. They formerly played in the American League West until the 1994 realignment, where they now compete in the American League Central Division

The team was formed by pharmaceutical executive Ewing Kauffman as a result of the move of the Athletics to Oakland,[1] and began play in 1969. They quickly became competitive, achieving a winning record in their third season with an 85–76 win-loss record. By 1976, the young team was becoming the dominant force in the American League West, winning 90 or more games in four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978.

Despite two lapses to below 80 wins in the 1980s, the Royals continued to be a strong force, reaching the 1980 World Series (before being defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies),[2] and winning in 1985 against cross-state rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During that postseason, they became the first team to ever rally from a three games to one deficit twice to win the World Series. The 2016 Chicago Cubs accomplished the same feat, by defeating the Cleveland Indians in a seven-game series.

The team remained competitive throughout the mid-1990s before entering a long period of failure. From 1995 through 2013, the team had only two winning seasons in 2003 and 2013. For 28 consecutive seasons, between the 1985 World Series championship and 2014, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, one of the longest postseason droughts during baseball's expanded wild-card era. The worst years during this era were from 2002 to 2006, when the Royals had four 100-loss seasons out of five.

The team broke its postseason drought by securing the franchise's first ever wild card berth in 2014. They advanced to the 2014 World Series, where they were defeated by the San Francisco Giants in seven games.[3] The next season, the team would go 95–67, the best record in the American League, securing the franchise's first divisional title since 1985, and the first Central division title ever. The team would eventually advance to the 2015 World Series, where they defeated the New York Mets in five games.[4]

Table Key[]

ALWC
American League Wild Card
ALDS
American League Division Series
ALCS
American League Championship Series
MVP
Most Valuable Player Award
CYA
Cy Young Award
ROY
Rookie of the Year Award
MOY
Manager of the Year Award
WS MVP
World Series Most Valuable Player Award

Regular season results[]

World Series champions † AL champions * Division champions ^ Wild card berth (1995–present) ¤
Season Level League Division Finish Wins Losses Win% GB Postseason Awards
1969 MLB AL West 4th 69 93 .426 28 Lou Piniella (ROY)
1970 MLB AL West T–4th 65 97 .401 33
1971 MLB AL West 2nd 85 76 .528 16
1972 MLB AL West 4th 76 78 .494 16½
1973 MLB AL West 2nd 88 74 .543 6
1974 MLB AL West 5th 77 85 .475 13
1975 MLB AL West 2nd 91 71 .562 7
1976 MLB AL West ^ 1st 90 72 .556 Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2
1977 MLB AL West ^ 1st 102 60 .630 Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2
1978 MLB AL West ^ 1st 92 70 .568 Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–1
1979 MLB AL West 2nd 85 77 .525 3
1980 MLB AL * West ^ 1st 97 65 .599 Won ALCS (Yankees) 3–0
Lost World Series (Phillies) 4–2 *
George Brett (MVP)
1981 MLB AL West 5th 20 30 .400 12 Lost ALDS (Athletics) 3–0
1st ^ 30 23 .566
1982 MLB AL West 2nd 90 72 .556 3
1983 MLB AL West 2nd 79 83 .488 20
1984 MLB AL West ^ 1st 84 78 .519 Lost ALCS (Tigers) 3–0
1985 MLB † AL * West ^ 1st 91 71 .562 Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–3
Won World Series (Cardinals) 4–3 †
Bret Saberhagen (CYA, WS MVP)
1986 MLB AL West T–3rd 76 86 .469 16
1987 MLB AL West 2nd 83 79 .512 2
1988 MLB AL West 3rd 84 77 .522 19½
1989 MLB AL West 2nd 92 70 .568 7 Bret Saberhagen (CYA)
1990 MLB AL West 6th 75 86 .466 27½
1991 MLB AL West 6th 82 80 .506 13
1992 MLB AL West T–5th 72 90 .444 24
1993 MLB AL West 3rd 84 78 .519 10
1994 MLB AL Central 3rd 64 51 .557 4 Playoffs canceled Bob Hamelin (ROY)
David Cone (CYA)
1995 MLB AL Central 2nd 70 74 .486 30
1996 MLB AL Central 5th 75 86 .466 24
1997 MLB AL Central 5th 67 94 .416 19½
1998 MLB AL Central 3rd 72 89 .447 16½
1999 MLB AL Central 4th 64 97 .398 32½ Carlos Beltrán (ROY)
2000 MLB AL Central 4th 77 85 .475 18
2001 MLB AL Central 5th 65 97 .401 26
2002 MLB AL Central 4th 62 100 .383 32½
2003 MLB AL Central 3rd 83 79 .512 7 Ángel Berroa (ROY)
Tony Peña (MOY)
2004 MLB AL Central 5th 58 104 .358 34
2005 MLB AL Central 5th 56 106 .346 43
2006 MLB AL Central 5th 62 100 .383 34
2007 MLB AL Central 5th 69 93 .426 27
2008 MLB AL Central 4th 75 87 .463 13½
2009 MLB AL Central T–4th 65 97 .401 21½ Zack Greinke (CYA)
2010 MLB AL Central 5th 67 95 .414 27
2011 MLB AL Central 4th 71 91 .438 24
2012 MLB AL Central 3rd 72 90 .444 16
2013 MLB AL Central 3rd 86 76 .531 7
2014 MLB AL * Central 2nd ¤ 89 73 .549 1 Won ALWC (Athletics)
Won ALDS (Angels) 3–0
Won ALCS (Orioles) 4–0
Lost World Series (Giants) 4–3 *
2015 MLB † AL * Central ^ 1st 95 67 .586 Won ALDS (Astros) 3–2
Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–2
Won World Series (Mets) 4–1 †
Salvador Pérez (WS MVP)
2016 MLB AL Central 3rd 81 81 .500 13½
2017 MLB AL Central 3rd 80 82 .494 22
2018 MLB AL Central 5th 58 104 .358 33
2019 MLB AL Central 4th 59 103 .364 42
2020 MLB AL Central 4th 26 34 .433 10
2021 MLB AL Central 4th 74 88 .457 19
Totals Wins Losses Win%
4,001 4,344 .479 All-time regular season record (1969–2021)
40 34 .541 All-time postseason record
4,041 4,378 .480 All-time regular and postseason record

Record by decade[]

The following table describes the Royals' MLB win–loss record by decade.

Decade Wins Losses Pct
1960s 69 93 .426
1970s 851 760 .528
1980s 826 734 .529
1990s 725 825 .468
2000s 672 948 .415
2010s 758 862 .468
2020s 100 122 .450
All-time 4001 4344 .479

These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com's Kansas City Royals History & Encyclopedia.[5]

Postseason record by year[]

The Royals have made the postseason nine times, with the first one being in the 1976 season and the most recent being in 2015.

Year Finish Round Opponent Result
1976 AL West Champions ALCS New York Yankees Lost 2 3
1977 AL West Champions ALCS New York Yankees Lost 2 3
1978 AL West Champions ALCS New York Yankees Lost 1 3
1980 American League Champions ALCS New York Yankees Won 3 0
World Series Philadelphia Phillies Lost 2 4
1981 AL West Champions (second half) ALDS Oakland Athletics Lost 0 3
1984 AL West Champions ALCS Detroit Tigers Lost 0 3
1985 World Series Champions ALCS Toronto Blue Jays Won 4 3
World Series St. Louis Cardinals Won 4 3
2014 American League Champions Wild Card Game Oakland Athletics Won 1 0
ALDS Anaheim Angels Won 3 0
ALCS Baltimore Orioles Won 4 0
World Series San Francisco Giants Lost 3 4
2015 World Series Champions ALDS Houston Astros Won 3 2
ALCS Toronto Blue Jays Won 4 2
World Series New York Mets Won 4 1
9 Totals 9–7 40 34

References[]

  1. ^ Gershon, Aaron. "Kansas City Royals (1969-Present)". sportsecyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "1980 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "2014 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "2015 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  5. ^ "Kansas City Royals History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.

External links[]

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