1983 Kansas City Royals season

Major League Baseball team season

1983 Kansas City Royals

League| American League
Division| West
Ballpark| Royals Stadium
City| Kansas City, Missouri
Record| 79–83 (.488)
Divisional place| 2nd
Owners| Ewing Kauffman
General managers| John Schuerholz
Managers| Dick Howser
Television| WDAF-TV
(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Radio| WIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
| <- 1982 | Seasons | 1984 ->

|
|

The 1983 Kansas City Royals season was their 15th in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 79–83, 20 games behind the Chicago White Sox. Dan Quisenberry's league-leading 45 saves also set a single-season franchise record.

## Offseason

[edit]

* December 8, 1982: Tim Ireland was released by the Royals.[1]
* February 5, 1983: Cecil Fielder was traded by the Royals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Leon Roberts.[2]

## Regular season

[edit]

* April 20, 1983: George Brett had 7 RBI in one game versus the Detroit Tigers.

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Chicago White Sox | 99 | 63  | .611  | —  | 55‍–‍26  | 44‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals | 79 | 83  | .488  | 20  | 45‍–‍36  | 34‍–‍47
Texas Rangers | 77 | 85  | .475  | 22  | 44‍–‍37  | 33‍–‍48
Oakland Athletics | 74 | 88  | .457  | 25  | 42‍–‍39  | 32‍–‍49
California Angels | 70 | 92  | .432  | 29  | 35‍–‍46  | 35‍–‍46
Minnesota Twins | 70 | 92  | .432  | 29  | 37‍–‍44  | 33‍–‍48
Seattle Mariners | 60 | 102  | .370  | 39  | 30‍–‍51  | 30‍–‍51

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1983 American League record

* v
* t
* e

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 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6
Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6
California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8
Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7
Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9
Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7
Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6
Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5
Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7
New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6
Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6
Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8
Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8
Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | —

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* April 1, 1983: Bombo Rivera was released by the Royals.[3]
* July 6, 1983: Gaylord Perry was signed as a free agent by the Royals.[4]
* July 22, 1983: Mélido Pérez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.[5]
* August 2, 1983: Eric Rasmussen was purchased by the Royals from the St. Louis Cardinals.[6]
* August 5, 1983: Vida Blue was released by the Royals.[7]

### Pine Tar Game

[edit]

Main article: Pine Tar Incident

The baseball bat used by Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983.

The Pine Tar Game refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.

Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth and U L Washington on first base. In the on deck circle, George Brett was heard remarking to a teammate, "Watch this baby fly" as he shook his bat. He then came to the plate and connected off Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5-4 lead. As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin approached home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined. Earlier in the season, Martin and other members (most notably, third baseman Graig Nettles, who as a member of the Minnesota Twins, recalled a similar incident involving Thurman Munson) of the Yankees had noticed the amount of pine tar used by Brett, but Martin had chosen not to say anything until the home run.

With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew inspected the bat. Measuring the bat against the width of home plate (which is 17 inches), they determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball rule book, which read that "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches (460 mm) from the tip of the handle."

### Roster

[edit]

1983 Kansas City Royals roster

Roster
Pitchers

* 31 Mike Armstrong
* 40 Bud Black
* 14,33 Vida Blue
* 39 Bill Castro
* 21 Keith Creel
* 32 Larry Gura
* 48 Don Hood
* 38 Mark Huismann
* 45 Danny Jackson
* 22 Dennis Leonard
* 36 Gaylord Perry
* 29 Dan Quisenberry
* 28 Eric Rasmussen
* 18 Steve Renko
* 34 Paul Splittorff
* 36 Bob Tufts
* 19 Frank Wills

|  | Catchers

* 7 Don Slaught
* 12 John Wathan

Infielders

* 24 Willie Aikens
* 1 Buddy Biancalana
* 5 George Brett
* 2 Onix Concepción
* 35 Ron Johnson
* 3 Cliff Pastornicky
* 4 Greg Pryor
* 9 Joe Simpson
* 30 U L Washington
* 20 Frank White

|  | Outfielders

* 33 Butch Davis
* 23 César Gerónimo
* 25 Jerry Martin
* 49 Darryl Motley
* 26 Amos Otis
* 16 Leon Roberts
* 15 Pat Sheridan
* 6 Willie Wilson

Other batters

* 11 Hal McRae

|  | Manager

* 10 Dick Howser

Coaches

* 43 Cloyd Boyer
* 8 Rocky Colavito
* 42 José Martínez
* 41 Joe Nossek
* 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

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

C | John Wathan | 128 | 437 | 107 | .245 | 2 | 32
1B | Willie Aikens | 125 | 410 | 124 | .302 | 23 | 72
2B | Frank White | 146 | 549 | 143 | .260 | 11 | 77
SS | UL Washington | 144 | 547 | 129 | .236 | 5 | 41
3B | George Brett | 123 | 464 | 144 | .310 | 25 | 93
LF | Butch Davis | 33 | 122 | 42 | .344 | 2 | 18
CF | Willie Wilson | 137 | 576 | 159 | .276 | 2 | 33
RF | Amos Otis | 98 | 356 | 93 | .261 | 4 | 41
DH | Hal McRae | 157 | 589 | 183 | .311 | 12 | 82

#### 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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Pat Sheridan | 109 | 333 | 90 | .270 | 7 | 36
Don Slaught | 83 | 276 | 86 | .312 | 0 | 28
Onix Concepción | 80 | 219 | 53 | .242 | 0 | 20
Leon Roberts | 84 | 213 | 55 | .258 | 8 | 24
Joe Simpson | 89 | 119 | 20 | .168 | 0 | 8
Greg Pryor | 68 | 115 | 25 | .217 | 1 | 14
César Gerónimo | 38 | 87 | 18 | .207 | 0 | 4
Darryl Motley | 19 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 3 | 11
Jerry Martin | 13 | 44 | 14 | .318 | 2 | 13
Cliff Pastornicky | 10 | 32 | 4 | .125 | 2 | 5
Ron Johnson | 9 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 1
Buddy Biancalana | 6 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Larry Gura | 34 | 200.1 | 11 | 18 | 4.90 | 57
Bud Black | 24 | 161.1 | 10 | 7 | 3.79 | 58
Paul Splittorff | 27 | 156.0 | 13 | 8 | 3.63 | 61
Gaylord Perry | 14 | 84.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.27 | 40
Dennis Leonard | 10 | 63.0 | 6 | 3 | 3.71 | 31
Eric Rasmussen | 11 | 52.2 | 3 | 6 | 4.78 | 18
Frank Wills | 6 | 34.2 | 2 | 1 | 4.15 | 23
Danny Jackson | 4 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.21 | 9

#### 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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Steve Renko | 25 | 121.1 | 6 | 11 | 4.30 | 54
Keith Creel | 25 | 89.1 | 2 | 5 | 6.35 | 31
Vida Blue | 19 | 85.1 | 0 | 5 | 6.01 | 53

#### 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

|
|
|
|
|
|

Dan Quisenberry | 69 | 5 | 3 | 45 | 1.94 | 48
Mike Armstrong | 58 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3.86 | 52
Don Hood | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.27 | 17
Bill Castro | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.64 | 17
Mark Huismann | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.58 | 20
Bob Tufts | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 3
Joe Simpson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

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 | Rick Mathews
A | Charleston Royals | South Atlantic League | Roy Tanner
Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Joe Jones
Rookie | Butte Copper Kings | Pioneer League | Tommy Jones

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Tim Ireland at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Cecil Fielder at Baseball Reference
3. ^ Bombo Rivera at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Gaylord Perry at Baseball Reference
5. ^ Mélido Pérez at Baseball Reference
6. ^ Eric Rasmussen at Baseball Reference
7. ^ Vida Blue 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]

* 1983 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
* 1983 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac

* v
* t
* e

1983 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

* 1983 MLB draft
* 1983 All-Star Game
* 1983 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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