1979 Kansas City Royals season

1979 Kansas City Royals
1979 Kansas City Royals
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	Joe Burke
Managers	Whitey Herzog (fourth full season)
Television	KBMA; (Steve Shannon, Dave Nelson)
Radio	WIBW (AM); (Denny Matthews, Fred White)

The 1979 Kansas City Royals season was their 11th season in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 85–77, three games behind the California Angels and ending Kansas City's run of three consecutive division titles. Darrell Porter tied a single-season franchise record with 112 runs batted in. George Brett led the American League in hits (212) and triples (20). Manager Whitey Herzog was fired following the season.

Offseason

January 9, 1979: Mike Bielecki was drafted by the Royals in the 6th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[1]
February 26, 1979: Eduardo Rodríguez was purchased by the Royals from the Milwaukee Brewers.^[2]

1979 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	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

April 3, 1979: Doug Bird was traded by the Royals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Todd Cruz.^[3]
April 27, 1979: George Throop was traded by the Royals to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later. The Astros completed the deal by sending Keith Drumright to the Royals on October 26.^[4]
June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
- Atlee Hammaker was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (21st pick).^[5]
- Dan Marino was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round (99th pick overall).^[6]
- John Elway was drafted by the Royals in the 18th round (463rd pick overall).^[7]

1979 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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	157	533	155	.291	20	112
1B	Pete LaCock	132	408	113	.277	3	56
2B	Frank White	127	467	124	.266	10	48
3B	George Brett	154	645	212	.329	23	107
SS	Freddie Patek	106	306	77	.252	1	37
LF	Willie Wilson	154	588	185	.315	6	49
CF	Al Cowens	136	516	152	.295	9	73
RF	Hal McRae	101	393	113	.288	10	74

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
U L Washington	101	268	68	.254	2	25
John Wathan	90	199	41	.206	2	28
Clint Hurdle	59	171	41	.240	3	30
George Scott	44	146	39	.267	1	20
Todd Cruz	55	118	24	.203	2	15
Steve Braun	58	116	31	.267	4	10
Jamie Quirk	51	79	24	.304	1	11
Jerry Terrell	31	40	12	.300	1	2
Tom Poquette	21	26	5	.192	0	3
Jim Nettles	11	23	2	.087	0	1
Joe Zdeb	15	23	4	.174	0	0
Jim Gaudet	3	6	1	.167	0	0
Germán Barranca	5	5	3	.600	0	0

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Paul Splittorff	36	240.0	15	17	4.24	77
Dennis Leonard	32	236.0	14	12	4.08	126
Larry Gura	39	233.2	13	12	4.47	85
Rich Gale	34	181.2	9	10	5.65	103
Craig Chamberlain	10	69.2	4	4	3.75	30

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 Busby	22	94.1	6	6	3.63	45
Marty Pattin	31	94.1	5	2	4.58	41

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Al Hrabosky	58	9	4	11	3.74	39
Dan Quisenberry	32	3	2	5	3.15	13
Steve Mingori	30	3	3	1	5.79	18
Eduardo Rodríguez	29	4	1	2	4.84	26
Renie Martin	25	0	3	5	5.19	25
Bill Paschall	7	0	1	0	6.59	3
Gary Christenson	6	0	0	0	3.38	4
Craig Eaton	5	0	0	0	2.70	4
George Throop	4	0	0	0	13.50	1
Jerry Terrell	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	Gordon Mackenzie
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Joe Jones
A	Fort Myers Royals	Florida State League	Gene Lamont
Rookie	GCL Royals Blue	Gulf Coast League	Brian Murphy
Rookie	GCL Royals Gold	Gulf Coast League	José Martínez

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.
1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac