Kansas City Royals | |
Season: | 1977 |
Misc: | 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.
1977 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
|-style="background:#cfc;"| 1 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 2 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 3 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 4 || || || Yankees || W 5–4 || Littell (1–0) || Tidrow (0–1) || — || 3:34 || 39,460 || 4–0 || W4|-style="background:#fcc;"| 5 || || || Yankees || L 3–5 || Guidry (1–0) || Hassler (1–1) || — || 2:58 || 20,089 || 4–1 || L1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 6 || || || Tigers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 7 || || || Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 8 || || || Tigers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 9 || || || Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 10 || || || Twins|-style="background:#fcc;"| 11 || || || Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 16 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 17 || || || Rangers|-|-style="background:#cfc;"| 21 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 22 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 23 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 24 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 25 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 26 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 27 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 30 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 31 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 32 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 33 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 34 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 35 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 39 ||
|| || @ Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 40 ||
|| || @ Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 41 || || || @ Red Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 42 || || || @ Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 43 || || || @ Red Sox|-|-style="background:#fcc;"| 46 || || || Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 47 ||
|| || Orioles|-style="background:#cfc;"| 48 ||
|| || Orioles|-style="background:#cfc;"| 49 || || || Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 50 || || || Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 51 || || || Red Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 52 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 53 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 57 || || || @ Yankees || W 8–3 || Splittorff (5–4) || Torrez (7–5) || Mingori (2) || 2:25 || 22,240 || 28–29 || W1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 58 || || || @ Yankees || L 2–4 || Gullett (6–2) || Hassler (3–2) || — || 2:19 || 19,559 || 28–30 || L1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 59 || || || @ Yankees || W 0–7 || Guidry (5–2) || Leonard (4–7) || — || 2:02 || 26,391 || 28–31 || L2|-style="background:#cfc;"| 60 || || || Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 61 || || || Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 62 || || || Twins|-|-style="background:#cfc;"| 77 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 78 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 83 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 84 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 85 || || || Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 86 || || || Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 87 || || || Yankees || W 7–4 || Splittorff (7–5) || Guidry (6–5) || Mingori (3) || 2:26 || 36,743 || 49–38 || W$|-style="background:#cfc;"| 88 || || || Yankees || W 5–1 || Leonard (9–9) || Torrez (8–9) || — || 2:20 || 40,054 || 50–38 || W5|-style="background:#cfc;"| 89 || || || Yankees || W 8–4 || Hassler (6–2) || Clay (0–3) || — || 2:51 || 38,699 || 51–38 || W6|- style="text-align:center; background:#bbcaff;"| colspan="12" | 48th All-Star Game in Bronx, New York|-style="background:#cfc;"| 90 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 91 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 92 || || || @ Tigers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 93 || || || @ Yankees || L 1–3 || Gullett (9–3) || Hassler (6–3) || Tidrow (4) || 2:30 || 41,060 || 53–40 || L2|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Yankees || colspan="8" | Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 29)|-style="background:#fcc;"| 96 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 97 || || || @ White Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 98 ||
|| || @ White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 99 ||
|| || @ White Sox|-|-style="background:#fcc;"| 100 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#fcc;"| 101 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 104 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 105 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 106 || || || White Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 109 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 110 || || || @ Rangers|-style="background:#fcc;"| 114 || || || @ Red Sox|-style="background:#fcc;"| 115 || || || @ Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 118 || || || Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 119 || || || Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 120 || || || Red Sox|-style="background:#cfc;"| 121 || || || Orioles|-style="background:#cfc;"| 122 || || || Orioles|-style="background:#cfc;"| 125 || || || @ Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 126 || || || @ Orioles|-style="background:#cfc;"| 127 || || || @ Orioles|-style="background:#fcc;"| 128 || || || @ Yankees || L 3–5 || Lyle (10–4) || Mingori (1–4) || — || 2:29 || 31,269 || 75–53 || L1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 129 || || || Rangers|-style="background:#cfc;"| 130 || || || Rangers|-|-style="background:#cfc;"| 139 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 140 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 141 || || || @ Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 149 || || || Twins|-style="background:#cfc;"| 150 || || || Twins|-|-|- style="text-align:center;"| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member
|-style="background:#cfc;"| 1 || || 2:15p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || W 7–2 || Splittorff (1–0) || Gullett (0–1) || — || 2:40 || 54,930 || KC 1–0 || W1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 2 || || 7:15p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || L 2–6 || Guidry (1–0) || Hassler (0–1) || — || 2:58 || 56,230 || Tied 1–1 || L1|-style="background:#cfc;"| 3 || || 7:15p.m. CDT || Yankees || W 6–2 || Leonard (1–0) || Torrez (0–1) || — || 2:19 || 41,285 || KC 2–1 || W1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 4 || || 12:15p.m. CDT || Yankees || L 4–6 || Lyle (1–0) || Gura (0–1) || — || 3:08 || 41,135 || Tied 2–2 || L1|-style="background:#fcc;"| 5 || || 7:15p.m. CDT || Yankees || L 3–5 || Lyle (2–0) || Leonard (1–1) || — || 3:04 || 41,133 || NYY 3–2 || L2|-|- style="text-align:center;"| Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Royals team member
= Indicates team leader |
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 | 130 | 425 | 117 | .275 | 16 | 60 | ||
1B | 153 | 543 | 125 | .230 | 23 | 82 | ||
2B | 152 | 474 | 116 | .245 | 5 | 50 | ||
3B | 139 | 564 | 176 | .312 | 22 | 88 | ||
SS | 154 | 497 | 130 | .262 | 5 | 60 | ||
LF | 106 | 342 | 100 | .292 | 2 | 33 | ||
CF | 142 | 478 | 120 | .251 | 17 | 78 | ||
RF | 162 | 606 | 189 | .312 | 23 | 112 | ||
DH | 162 | 641 | 191 | .298 | 21 | 92 |
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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
88 | 218 | 66 | .303 | 3 | 29 | ||
105 | 195 | 58 | .297 | 2 | 23 | ||
64 | 156 | 39 | .250 | 0 | 10 | ||
55 | 119 | 39 | .328 | 2 | 21 | ||
29 | 80 | 18 | .225 | 1 | 9 | ||
34 | 65 | 17 | .262 | 2 | 8 | ||
54 | 62 | 16 | .258 | 0 | 5 | ||
27 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 0 | 4 | ||
13 | 34 | 11 | .324 | 0 | 1 | ||
10 | 20 | 4 | .200 | 0 | 1 | ||
9 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 2 | 7 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
38 | 292.2 | 20 | 12 | 3.04 | 244 | |
36 | 239.0 | 18 | 14 | 3.62 | 103 | |
37 | 229.0 | 16 | 6 | 3.69 | 99 | |
29 | 156.1 | 9 | 6 | 4.20 | 83 | |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
53 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 3.88 | 83 | ||
52 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 3.13 | 46 | ||
48 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3.58 | 55 | ||
43 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3.09 | 19 | ||
6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.52 | 10 | ||
4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 1 | ||
3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.14 | 1 | ||
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |
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]
See main article: article and 1977 American League Championship Series.
October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City
align=left width=28% | Team | width=6% | 1 | width=6% | 2 | width=6% | 3 | width=6% | 4 | width=6% | 5 | width=6% | 6 | width=6% | 7 | width=6% | 8 | width=6% | 9 | width=6% | R | width=6% | H | width=6% | 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) |
October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City
align=left width=28% | Team | width=6% | 1 | width=6% | 2 | width=6% | 3 | width=6% | 4 | width=6% | 5 | width=6% | 6 | width=6% | 7 | width=6% | 8 | width=6% | 9 | width=6% | R | width=6% | H | width=6% | 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) |
October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
align=left width=28% | Team | width=6% | 1 | width=6% | 2 | width=6% | 3 | width=6% | 4 | width=6% | 5 | width=6% | 6 | width=6% | 7 | width=6% | 8 | width=6% | 9 | width=6% | R | width=6% | H | width=6% | 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 |
October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
align=left width=28% | Team | width=6% | 1 | width=6% | 2 | width=6% | 3 | width=6% | 4 | width=6% | 5 | width=6% | 6 | width=6% | 7 | width=6% | 8 | width=6% | 9 | width=6% | R | width=6% | H | width=6% | 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 |
October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
align=left width=28% | Team | width=6% | 1 | width=6% | 2 | width=6% | 3 | width=6% | 4 | width=6% | 5 | width=6% | 6 | width=6% | 7 | width=6% | 8 | width=6% | 9 | width=6% | R | width=6% | H | width=6% | 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 |
See also: Minor League Baseball.