1985 Kansas City Royals season

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1985 Kansas City Royals
AL Champions
AL West Champions
Major league affiliations
Location
1985 Information
Owner(s) Ewing Kauffman
Manager(s) Dick Howser
Local television WDAF-TV
(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Local radio WIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2007)

The 1985 Kansas City Royals season ended with the Royals' first world championship win over their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals won the Western Division of the American League for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in ten years. The team improved its record to 91-71 on the strength of its pitching, led by Bret Saberhagen's Cy Young Award-winning performance.

In the playoffs, the Royals went on to win the American League Championship Series for just the second time and the World Series for the first time. Both series were won in seven games after losing three of the first four games. The championship series against the Cardinals was forever remembered by umpires' blown calls: one that cost the Royals a run in the 4th, and a "blown call" in Game Six by umpire Don Denkinger that let the Royals tie the game.

The team was managed by Dick Howser in his fourth and final full season with the Royals.

Contents

[edit] Offseason

  • January 18, 1985: Danny Darwin was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Texas Rangers with a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Jim Sundberg to the Kansas City Royals. The New York Mets sent Tim Leary to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Kansas City Royals sent Don Slaught to the Texas Rangers. The Kansas City Royals sent Frank Wills to the New York Mets. The Texas Rangers sent Bill Nance (minors) (January 30, 1985) to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade. [1]

[edit] Offense

Team leaders
Statistic Name
Runs 108 George Brett
Hits 184 George Brett
Doubles 38 George Brett
Triples 21 #Willie Wilson
Home runs 36 ³Steve Balboni
Runs batted in 112 George Brett
Stolen bases 43 Willie Wilson
Batting average .335 ²George Brett
Notes: #Led the majors ¹Led league
²Second place ³Third place †Tied


[edit] Pitching

Team leaders
Statistic Name
Games pitched 84 #Dan Quisenberry
Innings pitched 237.2 Charlie Leibrandt
Wins 20 ²Bret Saberhagen
Strikeouts 158 Bret Saberhagen
Complete games 10 Bret Saberhagen
Shutouts 3 Danny Jackson &
Charlie Leibrandt
Saves 37 ¹Dan Quisenberry
Earned run average 2.69 ²Charlie Leibrandt
Notes: #Led the majors ¹Led league
²Second place ³Third place †Tied

Still rehabilitating from a tendon injury in 1983, Dennis Leonard remained out for most of the year—pitching just two innings of relief in September.


[edit] Regular season

The Royals opened the season at home on Monday, April 8, in a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In his second straight opening day start, Bud Black faced off against the Blue Jay's Dave Stieb and allowed only a single earned run on four hits as the Royals won 2-1. Stieb held the Royals scoreless for 6⅔ innings before giving up the game winning runs on a double by Willie Wilson. Black exited the game in the eighth inning with two outs after giving up a single and a walk. Dan Quisenberry closed out the game for his first save of the new season. The attendance of 41,086 was the highest of any home opener and wasn't exceeded until the 2005 season. It was also the second highest of any of the Royals' regular season home games in 1985.

The Seattle Mariners had the strongest start in the division—winning their first six games at home by sweeping the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins. But the Mariners quickly faded into sixth place as they lost twelve of their next thirteen games. After their losses in Seattle, the Athletics returned home to win seven of their next nine games, and on April 21 were in a three-way tie for first with the Mariners and the California Angels. However, a seven-game losing streak at the end of April pushed them down into sixth place on May 1 and five games below the Angels. At the end of April the Royals had a record of 11-8 (.579), but they had fallen two games behind the Angels who had finished the month with a six-game winning streak and had a 14-7 record.

The Royals began the month of May by losing seven of their first eight games, culminating in a 11-3 loss on May 11 at home to the New York Yankees. The team was three games below .500, in fourth place and 5½ games behind the Angels. Three days and three wins later, with a record of 15-15, the Royals would not drop below .500 at any time during the remainder of the season. (But they would have a .500 record as late as July 10 when they were 41-41.) With two 6-game winning streaks, the team won thirteen of their next seventeen games to enter a first place tie with the Angels on May 29, with a record of 25-19. This stretch of games was highlighted by three complete game shutouts pitched by Brett Saberhagen, Bud Black, and Charlie Leibrandt in which they allowed only a combined 8 hits and 4 walks. And despite being on the road, from May 15 through May 17, the three starters each threw a complete game and allowed a combined two earned runs (a 0.67 ERA), 14 hits, and just one walk.

The Royals struggled to make headway in the divisional race through June and into late July. Between May 30 and July 21 they were 21-25 and fell to 7½ games behind the Angels. With New York arriving in Kansas City to start a six-game home series on Monday, July 22, the Royals began a seven-game winning streak which was the longest in the season to that point. Dan Quisenberry picked up his 19th, 20th, and 21st saves as the Royals swept the Yankees, and he put in relief appearances in three of the next four games—picking up two more saves. On July 29, the Angels' lead had shrunk to 2½ games. They would remain there through September 1 as the Royals were 16-14 during that period and the Angels were 17-15.

The eight-game winning streak (all at home) between September 2 and September 8 was the longest of the season for the Royals. The streak included three games in extra innings. After winning five of their next seven games, the Royals achieved a 2½ game lead over the Angels on September 15. However, the Mariners who had given them trouble earlier in the year—winning five of their six previous contests—shut out the Royals twice in a four-game sweep in Kansas City, dropping the Royals into a tie for first place on September 19. Winning just four of their next nine games, the Royals dropped a game behind the Angels on September 29.

After being swept at home in three games by the Twins and with only seven games remaining in the regular season, the Royals faced a four-game series at home versus the Angels. On September 30 the Royals won the first game 3-1 with Saberhagen pitching a complete game and giving up just one run on a home run by Doug DeCinces. Saberhagen collected ten strikeouts in the game and allowed only seven batters to reach first base. The Angels claimed the following game on October 1 by the score of 4-2 with Mike Witt pitching. The Royals won the third game on October 2 with Black pitching a complete game shut out and allowing only five batters to reach first base. Three of the four runs scored by the Royals came in the bottom of the first inning with no outs as George Brett hit an inside-the-park home run to center field with two runners on base. The final game of the series on October 3 was won 4-1 by the Royals with Quisenberry recording the final out of the game and his 36th save of the season. Starting pitcher Danny Jackson had given up just one run in 8⅔ innings despite allowing 11 hits. The Royals' runs came on three home runs by Frank White, Steve Balboni, and Brett. With the win, the Royals had a one game lead on the Angels.

The Royals hosted the Athletics for the final three games of the season while the Angels traveled to Arlington Stadium to battle the Rangers. On October 4, the Royals defeated the Athletics by the score of 4-2, and the Angels were shut out 6-0 by the Rangers' starting pitcher Dave Schmidt. This gave the Royals a two game lead and assured them of at least a tie for first. The division championship was claimed in a dramatic fashion on the following day as the Royals come from behind to defeat the Athletics in ten innings by the score of 5-4. The final game of the season on October 6 was a loss, and the Royals finished the season with a record of 91-71 (.562).

American League West final standings
Rank Club Wins Losses Win % GB
1st Kansas City Royals   91   71 .562    —
2nd California Angels   90   72 .556   1.0
3rd Chicago White Sox   85   77 .525   6.0
4th Minnesota Twins   77   85 .475 14.0
4th Oakland Athletics   77   85 .475 14.0
6th Seattle Mariners   74   88 .457 17.0
7th Texas Rangers   62   99 .385 28.5

[edit] Notable Transactions

  • June 3, 1985: Brian McRae was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (17th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 1985. [2]

[edit] All-Stars

  • Dick Howser, Manager
  • George Brett, 3B


[edit] Game log

1985 Game Log
April
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record
1 April 8 Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 01-00
2 April 10 Toronto Blue Jays 0-1 01-01
3 April 11 Toronto Blue Jays 3-4 01-02
4 April 13 Detroit Tigers 1-3 01-03
5 April 14 Detroit Tigers 1-5 01-04
6 April 16 Boston Red Sox 2-0 02-04
7 April 17 Boston Red Sox 6-1 03-04
8 April 18 Boston Red Sox 3-4 03-05
9 April 19 @ Detroit Tigers 9-2 04-05
10 April 20 @ Detroit Tigers 3-4 04-06
11 April 21 @ Detroit Tigers 3-2 05-06
12 April 22 @ Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 06-06
13 April 23 @ Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 07-06
14 April 24 @ Toronto Blue Jays 2-10 07-07
15 April 26 @ Boston Red Sox 2-5 07-08
16 April 27 @ Boston Red Sox 5-4 08-08
17 April 28 @ Boston Red Sox 5-2 09-08
18 April 29 Cleveland Indians 3-2 10-08
19 April 30 Cleveland Indians 5-1 11-08

More scores to come soon...

[edit] Postseason

[edit] ALCS

Main article: 1985 American League Championship Series
 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (March 2007)


[edit] World Series

Main article: 1985 World Series

With the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the National League Championship Series, the 1985 World Series was destined to become one of the most memorable series for the cross-state rivals. It was popularly known as the Show-Me Series (Missouri is "the Show-Me State") and the I-70 Series.

As they had done in the ALCS, the Royals lost three of their first four games with the Cardinals. The key game in the Royals' comeback was Game 6. Facing elimination, the Royals trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning, before rallying to score two runs and win. In what has been called "one of the most controversial and famous plays in Series history",[3] Jorge Orta led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays later showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. The call shifted momentum of the Series to the Royals and following the tension and frustration of Game 6, the Cardinals came undone in Game 7. The Royals' Bret Saberhagen pitched a five-hit shutout, allowing the Royals to win 11-0 and clinch the franchise's first World Series title.

[edit] Free agents

After the season these players became free agents:

[edit] Awards and honors

Cy Young Award 
Bret Saberhagen
Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award 
Dan Quisenberry
ALCS MVP 
George Brett
Gold Glove Award 
Third base—George Brett
Silver Slugger Award 
Third base—George Brett
Executive of the Year 
General Manager John Schuerholz

[edit] Records and milestones

[edit] Batting

Triples

  • Willie Wilson set the Royals single season record with 21 triples.

Home runs

  • Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 36 home runs.

Strikeouts

  • Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 166 strikeouts.

[edit] Pitching

Games pitched

  • Dan Quisenberry set the Royals single season record with 84 games pitched and finished the season with 444 on the all-time Royals list, passing Paul Splittorff (with 429) for first place.

Saves

  • Dan Quisenberry, first on the all-time Royals list, finishes the season with 217.

[edit] Roster

Players on the active roster with prior number of seasons in the major leagues and seasons with the Royals ('R' indicates rookie):

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated hitters

Coaching staff
Notes
* Player was not with the team the entire season (see Transactions section).
(s-position) Player started in the indicated position at least 50 times during the regular season.
(SP) Player was a starting pitcher.
(CL) Player was a closer.


[edit] Trivia

  • At the age of 39, Hal McRae was 6th oldest player in the American League and 14th oldest overall; the oldest player was Phil Niekro (age 46).

[edit] References

Notes:

  1. ^ Danny Darwin Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ Brian McRae Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Bad Call Gives Royals New Life. MLB.com (October 26, 1985). Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
v • d • e
1985 MLB season by team
AL East
AL West
California • Chicago • Kansas City • Minnesota • Oakland • Seattle • Texas
NL East
NL West
1985 All-Star Game • 1985 World Series


v • d • e
Kansas City Royals
Based in Kansas City, Missouri
The Franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Important Figures
Team Hall of Fame
Retired Numbers
5 • 10 • 20 • 42
Minors
Key Personnel
Owner: David Glass • General Manager: Dayton Moore • Manager: Trey Hillman
Team Managers
World Series
Championships (1)
American League
Pennants (2)
Division Titles
Western: 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1980 • 1981 (second half) • 1984 • 1985 • Central: none • Wild Card: none
Preceded by
Kansas City Royals
1984		 AL West Championship Season
1985		 Succeeded by
California Angels
1986
Preceded by
Detroit Tigers
1984		 American League Championship
1985		 Succeeded by
Boston Red Sox
1986
Preceded by
Detroit Tigers
1984		 World Series Champions
Kansas City Royals
1985		 Succeeded by
New York Mets
1986