1977 Kansas City Royals season

1977 Kansas City Royals
1977 Kansas City Royals
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	Joe Burke
Managers	Whitey Herzog (second full season)
Television	KBMA–TV 41; (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
Radio	WIBW–AM 580; KMBZ–AM 980; (Denny Matthews, Fred White)

The 1977 Kansas City Royals season was their ninth in Major League Baseball. The Royals' franchise-best 102–60 record led the majors and Kansas City won its second consecutive American League West title. Once again, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees in the postseason, falling 3–2 in the ALCS. Hal McRae led the American League in doubles, with 54. Al Cowens set a franchise single-season record with 112 runs batted in.

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

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	.630	—	55‍–‍26	47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers	94	68	.580	8	44‍–‍37	50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	.556	12	48‍–‍33	42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	.522	17½	48‍–‍32	36‍–‍45
California Angels	74	88	.457	28	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	.395	38	29‍–‍52	35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	.391	38½	35‍–‍46	28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1977 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	—	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

Notable transactions

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

Roster

1977 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

24 Whitey Herzog

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1977 regular season game log: 102–60 (Home: 55–26; Away: 47–34)

April: 11–8 (Home: 5–7; Away: 6–1)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
1	April 7	@ Tigers
2	April 9	@ Tigers
3	April 10	@ Tigers
4	April 11	Yankees	W 5–4 (13)	Littell (1–0)	Tidrow (0–1)	—	3:34	39,460	4–0	W4
5	April 13	Yankees	L 3–5	Guidry (1–0)	Hassler (1–1)	—	2:58	20,089	4–1	L1
6	April 15	Tigers
7	April 16	Tigers
8	April 17	Tigers
9	April 18	Twins
10	April 19	Twins
11	April 20	Twins
16	April 26	Rangers
17	April 27	Rangers

May: 10–15 (Home: 6–8; Away: 4–7)

#	Date	Opponent
21	May 2	White Sox
22	May 3	White Sox
23	May 4	White Sox
24	May 5	White Sox
25	May 6	@ Rangers
26	May 7	@ Rangers
27	May 8	@ Rangers
30	May 12	Rangers
31	May 13	Rangers
32	May 14	Rangers
33	May 15	Rangers
34	May 18	@ White Sox
35	May 19	@ White Sox
39	May 25 (1)	@ Orioles
40	May 25 (2)	@ Orioles
41	May 27	@ Red Sox
42	May 28	@ Red Sox
43	May 29	@ Red Sox

June: 17–12 (Home: 8–5; Away: 9–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
46	June 3	Orioles
47	June 4 (1)	Orioles
48	June 4 (2)	Orioles
49	June 5	Orioles
50	June 6	Red Sox
51	June 7	Red Sox
52	June 8	@ Twins
53	June 9	@ Twins
57	June 13	@ Yankees	W 8–3	Splittorff (5–4)	Torrez (7–5)	Mingori (2)	2:25	22,240	28–29	W1
58	June 14	@ Yankees	L 2–4	Gullett (6–2)	Hassler (3–2)	—	2:19	19,559	28–30	L1
59	June 16	@ Yankees	W 0–7	Guidry (5–2)	Leonard (4–7)	—	2:02	26,391	28–31	L2
60	June 17	Twins
61	June 18	Twins
62	June 19	Twins

July: 18–8 (Home: 10–1; Away: 8–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
77	July 4	@ Rangers
78	July 5	@ Rangers
83	July 11	@ White Sox
84	July 12	@ White Sox
85	July 13	Tigers
86	July 14	Tigers
87	July 15	Yankees	W 7–4	Splittorff (7–5)	Guidry (6–5)	Mingori (3)	2:26	36,743	49–38	W$
88	July 16	Yankees	W 5–1	Leonard (9–9)	Torrez (8–9)	—	2:20	40,054	50–38	W5
89	July 17	Yankees	W 8–4	Hassler (6–2)	Clay (0–3)	—	2:51	38,699	51–38	W6
48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York
90	July 21	@ Tigers
91	July 22	@ Tigers
92	July 23	@ Tigers
93	July 24	@ Yankees	L 1–3	Gullett (9–3)	Hassler (6–3)	Tidrow (4)	2:30	41,060	53–40	L2
—	July 25	@ Yankees	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 29)
96	July 29	@ White Sox
97	July 30	@ White Sox
98	July 31 (1)	@ White Sox
99	July 31 (2)	@ White Sox

August: 20–11 (Home: 11–3; Away: 9–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
100	August 1	@ Twins
101	August 2	@ Twins
104	August 5	White Sox
105	August 6	White Sox
106	August 7	White Sox
109	August 10	@ Rangers
110	August 11	@ Rangers
114	August 15	@ Red Sox
115	August 16	@ Red Sox
118	August 19	Red Sox
119	August 20	Red Sox
120	August 21	Red Sox
121	August 22	Orioles
122	August 23	Orioles
125	August 26	@ Orioles
126	August 27	@ Orioles
127	August 28	@ Orioles
128	August 29	@ Yankees	L 3–5	Lyle (10–4)	Mingori (1–4)	—	2:29	31,269	75–53	L1
129	August 30	Rangers
130	August 31	Rangers

September: 25–5 (Home: 14–1; Away: 11–4)

#	Date	Opponent
139	September 9	@ Twins
140	September 10	@ Twins
141	September 11	@ Twins
149	September 20	Twins
150	September 21	Twins

October: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Postseason Game log

1977 Postseason game log: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–1)

AL Championship Series: vs. New York Yankees 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–1)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Series	Box/ Streak
1	October 5	2:15 p.m. CDT	@ Yankees	W 7–2	Splittorff (1–0)	Gullett (0–1)	—	2:40	54,930	KC 1–0	W1
2	October 6	7:15 p.m. CDT	@ Yankees	L 2–6	Guidry (1–0)	Hassler (0–1)	—	2:58	56,230	Tied 1–1	L1
3	October 7	7:15 p.m. CDT	Yankees	W 6–2	Leonard (1–0)	Torrez (0–1)	—	2:19	41,285	KC 2–1	W1
4	October 8	12:15 p.m. CDT	Yankees	L 4–6	Lyle (1–0)	Gura (0–1)	—	3:08	41,135	Tied 2–2	L1
5	October 9	7:15 p.m. CDT	Yankees	L 3–5	Lyle (2–0)	Leonard (1–1)	—	3:04	41,133	NYY 3–2	L2

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Royals team member

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	Darrell Porter	130	425	117	.275	16	60
1B	John Mayberry	153	543	125	.230	23	82
2B	Frank White	152	474	116	.245	5	50
3B	George Brett	139	564	176	.312	22	88
SS	Freddie Patek	154	497	130	.262	5	60
LF	Tom Poquette	106	342	100	.292	2	33
CF	Amos Otis	142	478	120	.251	17	78
RF	Al Cowens	162	606	189	.312	23	112
DH	Hal 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
Pete LaCock	88	218	66	.303	3	29
Joe Zdeb	105	195	58	.297	2	23
Cookie Rojas	64	156	39	.250	0	10
John Wathan	55	119	39	.328	2	21
Buck Martinez	29	80	18	.225	1	9
Joe Lahoud	34	65	17	.262	2	8
Bob Heise	54	62	16	.258	0	5
Dave Nelson	27	48	9	.188	0	4
Willie Wilson	13	34	11	.324	0	1
U L Washington	10	20	4	.200	0	1
Clint Hurdle	9	26	8	.308	2	7

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
Dennis Leonard	38	292.2	20	12	3.04	244
Jim Colborn	36	239.0	18	14	3.62	103
Paul Splittorff	37	229.0	16	6	3.69	99
Andy 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
Marty 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
Doug Bird	53	11	4	14	3.88	83
Larry Gura	52	8	5	10	3.13	46
Mark Littell	48	8	4	12	3.58	55
Steve Mingori	43	2	4	4	3.09	19
Tom Hall	6	0	0	0	3.52	10
George Throop	4	0	0	1	3.38	1
Randy McGilberry	3	0	1	0	5.14	1
Gary Lance	1	0	1	0	4.50	0

Other events

Before they were to play a game on June 12 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium, thieves stole gloves and uniforms belonging to Royals players. Due to this, all but seven Kansas City Royals players had to wear Milwaukee road uniforms for the game played that day.^[5]

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	X	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	X	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

^ Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference
^ Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
^ Frank Ortenzio at Baseball Reference
^ Tim Ireland at Baseball Reference
^ Kansas City Royals have gloves, uniforms stolen before game

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

[1] Ruppert Jones at Baseball-Reference

[2] Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference

[3] Frank Ortenzio at Baseball Reference

[4] Tim Ireland at Baseball Reference

[5] Kansas City Royals have gloves, uniforms stolen before game

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]