1971 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)Cedric Tallis
Manager(s)Bob Lemon (first full season)
Local televisionKMBC-TV
Local radioKMBZ
(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
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The 1971 Kansas City Royals season was their third in Major League Baseball. The Royals had the first winning season (85-76) in franchise history, good enough for second place in the American League West and 16 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Kansas City earning a winning record in its third season was the fastest of any expansion club in Major League Baseball history up to that point. The record would stand until the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League West title in their second season.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 101 60 0.627 — 46–35 55–25
Kansas City Royals 85 76 0.528 16 44–37 41–39
Chicago White Sox 79 83 0.488 22½ 39–42 40–41
California Angels 76 86 0.469 25½ 35–46 41–40
Minnesota Twins 74 86 0.463 26½ 37–42 37–44
Milwaukee Brewers 69 92 0.429 32 34–48 35–44

Record vs. opponents

1971 American League Records

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK WSH
Baltimore — 9–9 7–5 8–4 13–5 8–10 6–5 9–3 10–2 11–7 7–4 13–3
Boston 9–9 — 6–6 10–2 11–7 12–6 1–11 6–6 8–4 7–11 3–9 12–6
California 5–7 6–6 — 8–10 8–4 6–6 8–10 6–12 12–6 6–6 7–11 4–8
Chicago 4–8 2–10 10–8 — 3–9 7–5 9–9 11–7 7–11 5–7 11–7 10–2
Cleveland 5–13 7–11 4–8 9–3 — 6–12 2–10 4–8 4–8 8–10 4–8 7–11
Detroit 10–8 6–12 6–6 5–7 12–6 — 8–4 10–2 6–6 10–8 4–8 14–4
Kansas City 5–6 11–1 10–8 9–9 10–2 4–8 — 8–10 9–9 5–7 5–13 9–3
Milwaukee 3–9 6–6 12–6 7–11 8–4 2–10 10–8 — 10–7 2–10 3–15 6–6
Minnesota 2–10 4–8 6–12 11–7 8–4 6–6 9–9 7–10 — 8–4 8–10 5–6
New York 7–11 11–7 6–6 7–5 10–8 8–10 7–5 10–2 4–8 — 5–7 7–11
Oakland 4–7 9–3 11–7 7–11 8–4 8–4 13–5 15–3 10–8 7–5 — 9–3
Washington 3–13 6–12 8–4 2–10 11–7 4–14 3–9 6–6 6–5 11–7 3–9 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1971 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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 Jerry May 71 218 55 .252 1 24
1B Gail Hopkins 103 295 82 .278 9 47
2B Cookie Rojas 115 414 124 .300 6 59
SS Freddie Patek 147 591 158 .267 6 36
3B Paul Schaal 161 548 150 .274 11 63
LF Lou Piniella 126 448 125 .279 3 51
CF Amos Otis 147 555 167 .301 15 79
RF Joe Keough 110 351 87 .248 3 30

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
Bob Oliver 128 373 91 .244 8 52
Ed Kirkpatrick 120 365 80 .219 9 46
Bobby Knoop 72 161 33 .205 1 11
Dennis Paepke 60 152 31 .204 2 14
Chuck Harrison 49 143 31 .217 2 21
Bobby Floyd 31 66 10 .152 0 2
Sandy Valdespino 18 63 20 .317 2 15
Buck Martinez 22 46 7 .152 0 1
Carl Taylor 20 39 7 .179 0 3
Rich Severson 16 30 9 .300 0 1
Ted Savage 19 29 5 .172 0 1

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
Dick Drago 35 241.1 17 11 2.98 109
Mike Hedlund 32 205.2 15 8 2.71 76
Paul Splittorff 22 144.1 8 9 2.68 80
Bruce Dal Canton 25 141.1 8 6 3.44 58
Wally Bunker 7 32.1 2 3 5.01 15

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
Al Fitzmorris 36 127.1 7 5 4.17 53
Ken Wright 21 78.0 3 6 3.69 56
Jim Rooker 20 54.0 2 7 5.33 31
Bill Butler 14 44.1 1 2 3.45 32
Lance Clemons 10 24.0 1 0 4.12 20
Monty Montgomery 3 21.1 3 0 2.11 12
Mike McCormick 4 9.2 0 0 9.31 2

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
Tom Burgmeier 67 9 7 17 1.73 44
Ted Abernathy 63 4 6 23 2.56 55
Jim York 53 5 5 3 2.89 103
Roger Nelson 13 0 1 0 5.29 29

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Jack McKeon
AA Elmira Royals Eastern League Harry Malmberg
A San Jose Bees California League Buddy Peterson
A Waterloo Royals Midwest League Steve Boros
Rookie Kingsport Royals Appalachian League Owen Friend
Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Buzzy Keller
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Gary Blaylock

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira, GCL Royals

Notes

  1. ^ Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ George Brett at Baseball Reference

References

Categories