1981 Kansas City Royals season

Major League Baseball team season

1981 Kansas City Royals

League| American League
Division| West
Ballpark| Royals Stadium
City| Kansas City, Missouri
Record| 50–53 (.485)
Divisional place| 4th
Owners| Ewing Kauffman
General managers| Joe Burke
Managers| Jim Frey and Dick Howser
Television| WDAF-TV 4
(Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Radio| WIBW–AM 580
KMBZ–AM 980
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
| <- 1980 | Seasons | 1982 ->

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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 to 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 ALDS.

## Offseason

[edit]

* January 6, 1981: Derek Botelho was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.[1]

## Regular season

[edit]

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

### Season standings

[edit]

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AL West Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

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Oakland Athletics | 64 | 45  | .587  | —  | 35‍–‍21  | 29‍–‍24
Texas Rangers | 57 | 48  | .543  | 5  | 32‍–‍24  | 25‍–‍24
Chicago White Sox | 54 | 52  | .509  | 8½  | 25‍–‍24  | 29‍–‍28
Kansas City Royals | 50 | 53  | .485  | 11  | 19‍–‍28  | 31‍–‍25
California Angels | 51 | 59  | .464  | 13½  | 26‍–‍28  | 25‍–‍31
Seattle Mariners | 44 | 65  | .404  | 20  | 20‍–‍37  | 24‍–‍28
Minnesota Twins | 41 | 68  | .376  | 23  | 24‍–‍36  | 17‍–‍32

AL West
First Half Standings  | W  | L  | Pct.  | GB

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Oakland Athletics | 37 | 23 | .617 | —
Texas Rangers | 33 | 22 | .600 | 1+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox | 31 | 22 | .585 | 2+1⁄2
California Angels | 31 | 29 | .517 | 6
Kansas City Royals | 20 | 30 | .400 | 12
Seattle Mariners | 21 | 36 | .368 | 14+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins | 17 | 39 | .304 | 18

AL West
Second Half Standings  | W  | L  | Pct.  | GB

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Kansas City Royals | 30 | 23 | .566 | —
Oakland Athletics | 27 | 22 | .551 | 1
Texas Rangers | 24 | 26 | .480 | 4+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins | 24 | 29 | .453 | 6
Seattle Mariners | 23 | 29 | .442 | 6+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox | 23 | 30 | .434 | 7
California Angels | 20 | 30 | .400 | 8+1⁄2

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1981 American League record

* v
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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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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
* 46 Rick Renick
* 44 Jimmie Schaffer

## Player stats

[edit]

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

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

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C | John Wathan | 89 | 301 | 76 | .252 | 1 | 19
1B | Willie Aikens | 101 | 349 | 93 | .266 | 17 | 53
2B | Frank White | 94 | 364 | 91 | .250 | 9 | 38
SS | U L Washington | 98 | 339 | 77 | .227 | 2 | 29
3B | George Brett | 89 | 347 | 109 | .314 | 6 | 43
LF | Willie Wilson | 102 | 439 | 133 | .303 | 1 | 32
CF | Amos Otis | 99 | 372 | 100 | .269 | 9 | 57
RF | Darryl Motley | 42 | 125 | 29 | .232 | 2 | 8
DH | Hal McRae | 101 | 389 | 106 | .272 | 7 | 36

#### Other batters

[edit]

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

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César Gerónimo | 59 | 118 | 29 | .246 | 2 | 13
Jamie Quirk | 46 | 100 | 25 | .250 | 0 | 10
Clint Hurdle | 28 | 76 | 25 | .329 | 4 | 15
Jerry Grote | 22 | 56 | 17 | .304 | 1 | 9
Lee May | 26 | 55 | 16 | .291 | 0 | 8
Dave Chalk | 27 | 49 | 11 | .224 | 0 | 5
Rance Mulliniks | 24 | 44 | 10 | .227 | 0 | 5
Ken Phelps | 21 | 22 | 3 | .136 | 0 | 1
Danny Garcia | 12 | 14 | 2 | .143 | 0 | 0
Pat Sheridan | 3 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0
Tim Ireland | 4 | 0 | 0 | \
- | 0 | 0
Onix Concepción | 2 | 0 | 0 | \
- | 0 | 0
Greg Keatley | 2 | 0 | 0 | \
- | 0 | 0

### Pitching

[edit]

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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Dennis Leonard | 26 | 201.2 | 13 | 11 | 2.99 | 107
Larry Gura | 23 | 172.1 | 11 | 8 | 2.72 | 61
Rich Gale | 19 | 101.2 | 6 | 6 | 5.40 | 47
Paul Splittorff | 21 | 99.0 | 5 | 5 | 4.36 | 48
Mike Jones | 12 | 75.2 | 6 | 3 | 3.21 | 29

#### Other pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

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Jim Wright | 17 | 52.0 | 2 | 3 | 3.46 | 27
Atlee Hammaker | 10 | 39.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.54 | 11
Juan Berenguer | 8 | 19.2 | 0 | 4 | 8.69 | 20

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

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Dan Quisenberry | 40 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 1.73 | 20
Renie Martin | 29 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2.77 | 25
Ken Brett | 22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4.18 | 7
Bill Paschall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1
Jeff Schattinger | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1

## ALDS

[edit]

Main article: 1981 American League Division Series

Oakland wins series, 3-0.

Game | Score | Date

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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

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

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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

[edit]

1. ^ "Derek Botelho Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
2. ^ Cal Ripken, Jr. at Baseball Reference
3. ^ Bombo Rivera at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Dave Leeper at Baseball Reference
5. ^ David Cone at Baseball Reference

## References

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

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1981 MLB season by team

| AL East|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Milwaukee
* New York
* Toronto

|

AL West|

* California
* Chicago
* Kansas City
* Minnesota
* Oakland
* Seattle
* Texas

| NL East|

* Chicago
* Montréal
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis

|

NL West|

* Atlanta
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* San Diego
* San Francisco

* 1981 MLB draft
* 1981 All-Star Game
* 1981 strike
* 1981 World Series

* v
* t
* e

Kansas City Royals

* Established in 1969
* Based in Kansas City, Missouri

Franchise|

* History
* Expansion and draft
* Seasons
* Current roster
* Owners and executives
* Managers
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* All-time roster
* First-round draft picks
* Records
* No-hitters
* Awards and league leaders
* Royals Academy
* Broadcasting
* FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City
* KSMO-TV

Ballparks|

Municipal Stadium
Kauffman Stadium
New Royals Stadium (proposed)
Spring training
Terry Park
Baseball City Stadium
Surprise Stadium

Culture|

* Sluggerrr
* Denny Matthews
* Ryan Lefebvre
* George Toma
* American Royal
* "Royals" (song)

Lore|

* Pine Tar Incident
* The Call
* 2014 AL Wild Card Game
* MLB in Omaha
* A drive into deep left field by Castellanos
* Bo Knows

Team Hall of Fame|

* Steve Busby
* Amos Otis
* Dick Howser
* Cookie Rojas
* Paul Splittorff
* Dennis Leonard
* Hal McRae
* Joe Burke
* Larry Gura
* Freddie Patek
* Ewing Kauffman
* George Brett
* Frank White
* Muriel Kauffman
* John Mayberry
* Dan Quisenberry
* Whitey Herzog
* Willie Wilson
* Jeff Montgomery
* Denny Matthews
* Bret Saberhagen
* Mark Gubicza
* Art Stewart
* Kevin Appier
* Mike Sweeney
* Ned Yost

Retired numbers|

* 5
* 10
* 20
* 42

Minor league
affiliates|

Triple-A
Omaha Storm Chasers
Double-A
Northwest Arkansas Naturals
High-A
Quad Cities River Bandits
Single-A
Columbia Fireflies
Rookie
ACL Royals
DSL Royals Fortuna
DSL Royals Ventura

Key personnel|

* Owner: John Sherman
* President of Baseball Operations & General Manager: J. J. Picollo
* Manager: Matt Quatraro

World Series
championships (2)|

* 1985
* 2015

American League
pennants (4)|

* 1980
* 1985
* 2014
* 2015

Division titles|

West
1976
1977
1978
1980
1981 (second half)
1984
1985
Central
2015
Wild Card
2014
2024

Seasons (57)

1960s|

* 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 ·  1969

1970s|

* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979

1980s|

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989

1990s|

* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

2000s|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009

2010s|

* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

2020s|

* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

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