1977 Kansas City Royals season

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.

LeagueAmerican League

BallparkRoyals Stadium

Record102–60 (.630)

OwnersEwing Kauffman

Quick facts Kansas City Royals, League ...

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)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

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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

More information Team, W ...

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

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Record vs. opponents

More information Team, BAL ...

1977 American League record v t e 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	—

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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

Postseason Game log

More information #, Date ...

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

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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

More information Pos, Player ...

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

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Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

More information Player, G ...

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

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Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

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

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Other pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Marty Pattin	31	128.1	10	13	3.58	55

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Relief pitchers

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

More information Player, G ...

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

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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]