1985 Kansas City Royals season

1985 Kansas City Royals
World Series Champions
AL Champions
AL Western Champions
Major League affiliations
  • Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s) John Schuerholz
Manager(s) Dick Howser
Local television WDAF-TV
(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Local radio WIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1985 Kansas City Royals season ended with the Royals' first world championship win over their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals won the Western Division of the American League for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in ten years. The team improved its record to 91–71 on the strength of its pitching, led by Bret Saberhagen's Cy Young Award-winning performance.

In the playoffs, the Royals went on to win the American League Championship Series for just the second time and the World Series for the first time (they previously lost the 1980 World Series). Both the ALCS and the World Series were won in seven games after the Royals lost the first two games at home and three of the first four games overall. The championship series against the Cardinals was forever remembered in St. Louis by umpires' supposedly blown calls in Game Six: one that cost the Royals a run in the 4th, and a "blown call" by umpire Don Denkinger that allowed Jorge Orta to reach first. The World Series is remembered in Kansas City as the culmination of ten years of dominance by the Royals, during which they reached the playoffs seven times, with stars such as George Brett, Hal McRae and Willie Wilson.

The team was managed by Dick Howser in his fourth and final full season with the Royals.

The Royals did not return to the postseason until 2014.

Offseason

Offense

Team leaders
Statistic Name
Runs 108 George Brett
Hits 184 George Brett
Doubles 38 George Brett
Triples 21 #Willie Wilson
Home runs 36 3Steve Balboni
Runs batted in 112 George Brett
Stolen bases 43 Willie Wilson
Batting average .335 2George Brett
Notes:
  • ^# Led the majors
  • ^1 Led league
  • ^2 Second place
  • ^3 Third place

Pitching

Team leaders
Statistic Name
Games pitched 84 #Dan Quisenberry
Innings pitched 237.2 Charlie Leibrandt
Wins 20 2Bret Saberhagen
Strikeouts 158 Bret Saberhagen
Complete games 10 Bret Saberhagen
Shutouts 3 Danny Jackson &
Charlie Leibrandt
Saves 37 1Dan Quisenberry
Earned run average 2.69 2Charlie Leibrandt
Notes:
  • ^# Led the majors
  • ^1 Led league
  • ^2 Second place
  • ^3 Third place

Regular season

The Royals opened the season at home on Monday, April 8, in a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In his second straight opening day start, Bud Black faced off against the Blue Jay's Dave Stieb and allowed only a single earned run on four hits as the Royals won 2–1. Stieb held the Royals scoreless for 6⅔ innings before giving up the game winning runs on a double by Willie Wilson. Black exited the game in the eighth inning with two outs after giving up a single and a walk. Dan Quisenberry closed out the game for his first save of the new season. The attendance of 41,086 was the highest of any home opener and wasn't exceeded until the 2005 season. It was also the second highest of any of the Royals' regular season home games in 1985.

The Seattle Mariners had the strongest start in the division—winning their first six games at home by sweeping the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins. But the Mariners quickly faded into sixth place as they lost twelve of their next thirteen games. After their losses in Seattle, the Athletics returned home to win seven of their next nine games, and on April 21 were in a three-way tie for first with the Mariners and the California Angels. However, a seven-game losing streak at the end of April pushed them down into sixth place on May 1 and five games below the Angels. At the end of April the Royals had a record of 11–8 (.579), but they had fallen two games behind the Angels who had finished the month with a six-game winning streak and had a 14–7 record.

The Royals began the month of May by losing seven of their first eight games, culminating in an 11–3 loss on May 11 at home to the New York Yankees. The team was three games below .500, in fourth place and 5½ games behind the Angels. Three days and three wins later, with a record of 15–15, the Royals would not drop below .500 at any time during the remainder of the season. (But they would have a .500 record as late as July 12 when they were 42–42.) With two 6-game winning streaks, the team won thirteen of their next seventeen games to enter a first place tie with the Angels on May 29, with a record of 25–19. This stretch of games was highlighted by three complete game shutouts pitched by Bret Saberhagen, Bud Black, and Charlie Leibrandt in which they allowed only a combined 8 hits and 4 walks. And despite being on the road, from May 15 through May 17, the three starters each threw a complete game and allowed a combined two earned runs (a 0.67 ERA), 14 hits, and just one walk.

The Royals struggled to make headway in the divisional race through June and into late July. Between May 30 and July 21 they were 21–25 and fell to 7½ games behind the Angels. With New York arriving in Kansas City to start a six-game home series on Monday, July 22, the Royals began a seven-game winning streak which was the longest in the season to that point. Dan Quisenberry picked up his 19th, 20th, and 21st saves as the Royals swept the Yankees, and he put in relief appearances in three of the next four games—picking up two more saves. On July 29, the Angels' lead had shrunk to 2½ games. They would remain there through September 1 as the Royals were 16–14 during that period and the Angels were 17–15.

The eight-game winning streak (all at home) between September 2 and 8 was the longest of the season for the Royals. The streak included three games in extra innings. After winning five of their next seven games, the Royals achieved a 2½ game lead over the Angels on September 15. However, the Mariners who had given them trouble earlier in the year—winning five of their six previous contests—shut out the Royals twice in a four-game sweep in Kansas City, dropping the Royals into a tie for first place on September 19. Winning just four of their next nine games, the Royals dropped a game behind the Angels on September 29.

After being swept at home in three games by the Twins and with only seven games remaining in the regular season, the Royals faced a four-game series at home versus the Angels. On September 30 the Royals won the first game 3–1 with Saberhagen pitching a complete game and giving up just one run on a home run by Doug DeCinces. Saberhagen collected ten strikeouts in the game and allowed only seven batters to reach first base. The Angels claimed the following game on October 1 by the score of 4–2 with Mike Witt pitching. The Royals won the third game on October 2 with Black pitching a complete game shut out and allowing only five batters to reach first base. Three of the four runs scored by the Royals came in the bottom of the first inning with no outs as George Brett hit an inside-the-park home run to center field with two runners on base. The final game of the series on October 3 was won 4–1 by the Royals with Quisenberry recording the final out of the game and his 36th save of the season. Starting pitcher Danny Jackson had given up just one run in 8⅔ innings despite allowing 11 hits. The Royals' runs came on three home runs by Frank White, Steve Balboni, and Brett. With the win, the Royals had a one-game lead on the Angels.

The Royals hosted the Athletics for the final three games of the season while the Angels traveled to Arlington Stadium to battle the Rangers. On October 4, the Royals defeated the Athletics by the score of 4–2, and the Angels were shut out 6–0 by the Rangers' starting pitcher Dave Schmidt. This gave the Royals a two-game lead and assured them of at least a tie for first. The division championship was claimed in a dramatic fashion on the following day as the Royals come from behind to defeat the Athletics in ten innings by the score of 5–4. The final game of the season on October 6 was a loss, and the Royals finished the season with a record of 91–71 (.562).

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 91 71 0.562 — 50–32 41–39
California Angels 90 72 0.556 1 49–30 41–42
Chicago White Sox 85 77 0.525 6 45–36 40–41
Minnesota Twins 77 85 0.475 14 49–35 28–50
Oakland Athletics 77 85 0.475 14 43–36 34–49
Seattle Mariners 74 88 0.457 17 42–41 32–47
Texas Rangers 62 99 0.385 28½ 37–43 25–56

Record vs. opponents

1985 American League Records

Sources:

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

Notable transactions

Roster

1985 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

All-Stars

Postseason

ALCS

Game 1

Tuesday, October 8, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 1
Toronto 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 X 6 11 0
WP: Dave Stieb (1–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–1)

Game 2

Wednesday, October 9, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Kansas City 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 10 3
Toronto 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 6 10 0
WP: Tom Henke (1–0)   LP: Dan Quisenberry (0–1)
Home runs:
KCR: Willie Wilson (1), Pat Sheridan (1)
TOR: None

Game 3

Friday, October 11, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toronto 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 13 1
Kansas City 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 X 6 10 1
WP: Steve Farr (1–0)   LP: Jim Clancy (0–1)
Home runs:
TOR: Rance Mulliniks (1), Jesse Barfield (1)
KCR: George Brett 2 (2), Jim Sundberg (1)

Game 4

Saturday, October 12, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toronto 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 7 0
Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0
WP: Tom Henke (2–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–2)

Game 5

Sunday, October 13, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Toronto 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Kansas City 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 2 8 0
WP: Danny Jackson (1–0)   LP: Jimmy Key (0–1)

Game 6

Tuesday, October 15, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 5 8 1
Toronto 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 8 2
WP: Mark Gubicza (1–0)   LP: Doyle Alexander (0–1)   Sv: Dan Quisenberry (1)
Home runs:
KCR: George Brett (3)
TOR: None

Game 7

Wednesday, October 16, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 6 8 0
Toronto 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 8 1
WP: Charlie Leibrandt (1–2)   LP: Dave Stieb (1–1)
Home runs:
KCR: Pat Sheridan (2)
TOR: None

World Series

Main article: 1985 World Series
The Commissioner's Trophy at Kauffman Stadium.
Manager DIck Howser (to left of podium) presents President Ronald Reagan with a Royals jacket, hat, and bat at the White House.

With the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the National League Championship Series, the 1985 World Series was destined to become one of the most memorable series for the cross-state rivals. It was popularly known as the Show-Me Series (Missouri is "the Show-Me State") and the I-70 Series. The 1985 World Series was played by National League rules, with no designated hitter, so the Royals were without the regular services of one of their best players, Hal McRae.

As they had done in the ALCS, the Royals lost three of their first four games with the Cardinals. The key game in the Royals' comeback was Game 6, a game famous for a tremendous Kansas City comeback, unfortunately belittled in St. Louis as due to supposed umpire errors. A call in the 4th inning cost the Royals their closest scoring opportunity when Frank White was called out after stealing second, and appearing on replay to have been safe, and the next batter, Pat Sheridan, got a hit. Facing elimination, the Royals trailed 1–0 in the bottom of the ninth inning before rallying to score two runs and win. In what has been called "one of the most controversial and famous plays in Series history",[5] Jorge Orta led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. Orta was later put out on the basepaths (the only out recorded in the inning), but Kansas City would go on to win as the Cardinals unravelled with a dropped pop up, a passed ball and poor pitching as the Royals capitalized on the opportunity. The Cardinals became completely undone in Game 7. The Royals' Bret Saberhagen pitched a five-hit shutout, allowing the Royals to win 11–0 and clinch the franchise's first World Series title as Cardinals' pitchers fell apart. AL Kansas City Royals (4) vs NL St. Louis Cardinals (3)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1St. Louis Cardinals – 3, Kansas City Royals – 1October 19Royals Stadium41,650[6]
2St. Louis Cardinals – 4, Kansas City Royals – 2October 20Royals Stadium41,656[7]
3Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1October 22Busch Stadium II53,634[8]
4Kansas City Royals – 0, St. Louis Cardinals – 3October 23Busch Stadium II53,634[9]
5Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1October 24Busch Stadium II53,634[10]
6St. Louis Cardinals – 1, Kansas City Royals – 2October 26Royals Stadium41,628[11]
7St. Louis Cardinals – 0, Kansas City Royals – 11October 27Royals Stadium41,658[12]

Free agents

After the season these players became free agents:

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
C Jim Sundberg 115 367 38 90 10 35 .245 0
1B Steve Balboni 160 600 74 146 36 88 .243 1
2B Frank White 149 563 62 140 22 69 .249 10
3B George Brett 155 550 108 184 30 112 .335 9
SS Onix Concepción 131 314 32 64 2 20 .204 4
LFLonnie Smith 120 448 77 115 6 41 .257 40
CF Willie Wilson 141 605 87 168 4 43 .278 43
RF Darryl Motley 123 383 45 85 17 49 .222 6
DH Hal McRae 112 320 41 83 14 70 .259 0

[13]

Other batters

Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
Buddy Biancalana 81 138 21 26 1 6 .188 1
Bob Hegman 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0
Dane Iorg 64 130 7 29 1 21 .223 0
Lynn Jones 110 152 12 32 0 9 .211 0
Omar Moreno 24 70 9 17 2 12 .243 0
Jorge Orta 110 300 32 80 4 45 .267 2
Greg Pryor 63 114 8 25 1 3 .219 0
Jamie Quirk 19 57 3 16 0 4 .281 0
Jim Scranton 6 4 1 0 0 0 .000 0
Pat Sheridan 78 206 18 47 3 17 .228 11
John Wathan 60 145 11 34 1 9 .234 1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player G GS IP W L ERA SO BB
Bud Black 33 33 205.7 10 15 4.33 122 59
Charlie Leibrandt 33 33 237.2 17 9 2.69 108 68
Bret Saberhagen 32 32 235.1 20 6 2.87 158 38
Danny Jackson 32 32 208.0 14 12 3.42 114 76
Mark Gubicza 29 28 177.1 14 10 4.06 99 77

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L SV ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Player G GS W L SV ERA SO
Dan Quisenberry 84 0 8 9 37 2.37 54
Joe Beckwith 49 0 1 5 1 4.07 80
Mike Jones 33 1 3 3 0 4.78 32
Mike LaCoss 21 0 1 1 1 5.09 26
Steve Farr 16 3 2 1 1 3.11 36

Awards and honors

Cy Young Award 
Bret Saberhagen
Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award 
Dan Quisenberry
ALCS MVP 
George Brett
Gold Glove Award 
Third base—George Brett
Silver Slugger Award 
Third base—George Brett
Executive of the Year 
General Manager John Schuerholz

Records and milestones

Batting

Triples

Home runs

Strikeouts

Pitching

Games pitched

Saves

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Gene Lamont
AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Tommy Jones
A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Duane Gustavson
A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Frank Funk
Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Joe Jones

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fort Myers

References

Notes:

  1. ↑ Danny Darwin Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ↑ Jamie Quirk Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ↑ Brian McRae Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ↑ Deion Sanders Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  5. ↑ "Bad Call Gives Royals New Life". MLB.com. October 26, 1985. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  6. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 1 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  7. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 2 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  8. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 3 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  9. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 4 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  10. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 5 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  11. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 6 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  12. ↑ "1985 World Series Game 7 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  13. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCR/1985.shtml
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