1971 Kansas City Royals season

1971 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
	American League (since 1969);
	West Division (since 1969);
Location
	Municipal Stadium (since 1969); Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969);
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	Cedric Tallis
Manager(s)	Bob Lemon (first full season)
Local television	KMBC-TV
Local radio	KMBZ; (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 to that point. The record would stand until the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League West title in their second season.

Offseason

February 2, 1971: Ellie Rodríguez was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor.[1]
Prior to 1971 season: Gary Lance was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.[2]

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:
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

May 11, 1971: Tom Matchick was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Savage.[3]
June 8, 1971: George Brett was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.[4]

Roster

1971 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

36 Ted Abernathy

27 Wally Bunker

29 Bill Butler

22 Tom Burgmeier

27 Lance Clemons

43 Bruce Dal Canton

41 Dick Drago

23 Al Fitzmorris

32 Mike Hedlund

25 Mike McCormick

20 Monty Montgomery

35 Roger Nelson

14 Jim Rooker

25 Paul Splittorff

28 Ken Wright

40 Jim York

Catchers

6 Buck Martinez

12 Jerry May

17 Dennis Paepke

Infielders

15 Bobby Floyd

7 Chuck Harrison

18,39 Gail Hopkins

19 Bobby Knoop

33 Bob Oliver

2,37 Freddie Patek

1 Cookie Rojas

10 Paul Schaal

15 Rich Severson

Outfielders

16 Joe Keough

8 Ed Kirkpatrick

26 Amos Otis

9 Lou Piniella

5 Ted Savage

44 Carl Taylor

49 Sandy Valdespino

Manager

21 Bob Lemon

Coaches

3 Galen Cisco (Pitching)

4 Harry Dunlop (3rd Base)

24 Charley Lau (Hitting)

11 George Strickland (1st Base)

Player stats

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

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	3	6	3.69	56
Jim Rooker	20	54	2	7	5.33	31
Bill Butler	14	44.1	1	2	3.45	32
Lance Clemons	10	24	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

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

Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference
Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference
George Brett at Baseball Reference

References

1971 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
1971 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac
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.

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[1] Ellie Rodríguez at Baseball Reference

[2] Gary Lance at Baseball Reference

[3] Tom Matchick at Baseball Reference

[4] George Brett at Baseball Reference