1977 Kansas City Royals season

1977 Kansas City Royals
1977 AL West Champions
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)	Whitey Herzog
Local television	KBMA
Local radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1977 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing first in the American League West with a record of 102 wins and 60 losses. They went on to lose the 1977 American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees, 3 games to 2.

Offseason

• November 5, 1976: Ruppert Jones was drafted from the Royals by the Seattle Mariners with the first pick in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft.^[1]
• December 6, 1976: Jamie Quirk, Jim Wohlford and a player to be named later were traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jim Colborn and Darrell Porter. The Kansas City Royals completed the trade by sending Bob McClure to the Brewers on March 15, 1977.^[2]
• December 7, 1976: Frank Ortenzio was traded by the Royals to the Montreal Expos for Rudy Kinard (minors).^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	0.630	—	55–26	47–34
Texas Rangers	94	68	0.580	8	44–37	50–31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	0.556	12	48–33	42–39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	0.522	17½	48–32	36–45
California Angels	74	88	0.457	28	39–42	35–46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	0.395	38	29–52	35–46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	0.391	38½	35–46	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Opening Day starters

• George Brett
• Al Cowens
• Pete LaCock
• John Mayberry
• Hal McRae
• Amos Otis
• Freddie Patek
• Darrell Porter
• Paul Splittorff
• Frank White

Notable transactions

• May 27, 1977: Tim Ireland was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[4]

Roster

1977 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 29 Doug Bird 48 Jim Colborn 37 Larry Gura 42 Tom Hall 16 Andy Hassler 39 Gary Lance 22 Dennis Leonard 17 Mark Littell 31 Randy McGilberry 23 Steve Mingori 33 Marty Pattin 34 Paul Splittorff 35 George Throop		Catchers 21 Buck Martinez 15 Darrell Porter 12 John Wathan Infielders  5 George Brett  6 Bob Heise  8 Pete LaCock  7 John Mayberry  3 Dave Nelson  2 Freddie Patek  1 Cookie Rojas 30 U L Washington 20 Frank White		Outfielders 18 Al Cowens  9 Clint Hurdle 10 Joe Lahoud 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis 25 Tom Poquette 32 Willie Wilson 19 Joe Zdeb		Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches 14 Steve Boros 36 Galen Cisco  4 Chuck Hiller 27 Charley Lau

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
C	Porter, DarrellDarrell Porter	130	425	117	.275	16	60
1B	Mayberry, JohnJohn Mayberry	153	543	125	.230	23	82
2B	White, FrankFrank White	152	474	116	.245	5	50
3B	Brett, GeorgeGeorge Brett	139	564	176	.312	22	88
SS	Patek, FreddieFreddie Patek	154	497	130	.262	5	60
CF	Otis, AmosAmos Otis	142	478	120	.251	17	78
RF	Cowens, AlAl Cowens	162	606	189	.312	23	112
DH	McRae, HalHal McRae	162	641	191	.298	21	92

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
LaCock, PetePete LaCock	88	218	66	.303	3	29
Zdeb, JoeJoe Zdeb	105	195	58	.297	2	23
Nelson, DaveDave Nelson	27	48	9	.188	0	4
Wilson, WillieWillie Wilson	13	34	11	.324	0	1
Washington, U LU L Washington	10	20	4	.200	0	1

Pitching

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
Leonard, DennisDennis Leonard	38	292.2	20	12	3.04	244
Colborn, JimJim Colborn	36	239	18	14	3.62	103
Splittorff, PaulPaul Splittorff	37	229	16	6	3.69	99
Hassler, AndyAndy Hassler	29	156.1	9	6	4.20	83

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
Pattin, MartyMarty Pattin	31	128.1	10	13	3.58	55

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
Bird, DougDoug Bird	53	11	4	14	3.88	83
Gura, LarryLarry Gura	52	8	5	10	3.13	46
Littell, MarkMark Littell	48	8	4	12	3.58	55
Hall, TomTom Hall	6	0	0	0	3.52	10
Throop, GeorgeGeorge Throop	4	0	0	1	3.38	1
Lance, GaryGary Lance	1	0	1	0	4.50	0

ALCS

Game 1

October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	9	0
New York	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
W: Paul Splittorff (1-0)  L: Don Gullett (0-1)
HRs: KC – Hal McRae (1), John Mayberry (1), Al Cowens (1) NYY – Thurman Munson (1)

Game 2

October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	1
New York	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1	-	6	10	0
W: Ron Guidry (1-0)  L: Andy Hassler (0-1)
HRs: KC – none; NYY – Cliff Johnson (1)

Game 3

October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4	1
Kansas City	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	1	-	6	12	1
W: Dennis Leonard (1-0)  L: Mike Torrez (0-1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Game 4

October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	13	0
Kansas City	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	2
W: Sparky Lyle (1-0)  L: Larry Gura (0-1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Game 5

October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	10	0
Kansas City	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	10	1
W: Sparky Lyle (2-0)  L: Dennis Leonard (1-1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	John Sullivan
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Gordon Mackenzie
A	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	José Martínez
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Bill Scripture

Notes

1. Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference
2. Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
3. Frank Ortenzio at Baseball Reference
4. Tim Ireland at Baseball Reference

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

• 1977 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
• 1977 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac