1985 Kansas City Royals season

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.

1985 Kansas City Royals
World Series Champions
AL Champions
AL Western Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)John Schuerholz
Manager(s)Dick Howser
Local televisionWDAF-TV
(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Local radioWIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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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 (they previously lost the 1980 World Series). Both the ALCS and the World Series were won in seven games after the Royals lost the first two games at home and three of the first four games overall. The championship series against the Cardinals was forever remembered in St. Louis by umpires' supposedly blown calls in Game Six: one that cost the Royals a run in the 4th, and a blown call by umpire Don Denkinger that allowed Jorge Orta to reach first. The World Series is remembered in Kansas City as the culmination of ten years of dominance by the Royals, during which they reached the playoffs seven times, with stars such as George Brett, Hal McRae and Willie Wilson.

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

The Royals did not return to the postseason until 2014 and won the World Series again in 2015.

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]
  • February 25, 1985: Jamie Quirk was signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.[2]

Offense
Team leaders
StatisticName
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
  • ^1 Led league
  • ^2 Second place
  • ^3 Third place

Pitching
Team leaders
StatisticName
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
  • ^1 Led league
  • ^2 Second place
  • ^3 Third place

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 Jays' Dave Stieb and allowed only a single earned run on four hits as the Royals won, 2–1. Stieb held the Royals scoreless for 6 ⅔ 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 an 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 12 when they were 42–42.) With two six-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 Bret 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 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 2 ½-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 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 shutout 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).

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9171 0.562 — 50–32 41–39
California Angels 9072 0.556 1 49–30 41–42
Chicago White Sox 8577 0.525 6 45–36 40–41
Minnesota Twins 7785 0.475 14 49–35 28–50
Oakland Athletics 7785 0.475 14 43–36 34–49
Seattle Mariners 7488 0.457 17 42–41 32–47
Texas Rangers 6299 0.385 28½ 37–43 25–56

Record vs. opponents
1985 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —5–87–58–48–56–76–69–46–61–127–56–610–24–8
Boston 8–5—5–74–8–18–56–75–75–87–55–88–46–65–79–4
California 5–77–5—8–58–48–44–99–39–43–96–79–49–45–7
Chicago 4–88–4–15–8—10–26–65–85–76–76–68–59–410–33–9
Cleveland 5–85–84–82–10—5–82–107–64–86–73–96–67–54–9
Detroit 7–67–64–86–68–5—5–79–43–99–38–45–77–56–7
Kansas City 6–67–59–48–510–27–5—8–47–65–78–53–106–77–5
Milwaukee 4–98–53–97–56–74–94–8—9–37–63–94–88–34–9
Minnesota 6–65–74–97–68–49–36–73–9—3–98–56–78–54–8
New York 12–18–59–36–67–63–97–56–79–3—7–59–38–46–7
Oakland 5–74–87–65–89–34–85–89–35–85–7—8–56–75–7
Seattle 6–66–64–94–96–67–510–38–47–63–95–8—6–72–10
Texas 2–107–54–93–105–75–77–63–85–84–87–67–6—3–9
Toronto 8–44–97–59–39–47–65–79–48–47–67–510–29–3—

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.[3]
  • June 3, 1985: Chris Jelic was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 2nd round of the 1985 amateur draft. [4]
  • June 3, 1985: Deion Sanders was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 6th round of the 1985 amateur draft, but did not sign.[5]

Roster
1985 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

  • 42 José Martínez

All-Stars
  • Dick Howser, Manager
  • George Brett, 3B

Game log
1985 Game Log (91–71) (Home: 50–32; Away: 41–39)
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Postseason

ALCS
Main article: 1985 American League Championship Series

Game 1

Tuesday, October 8, 1985, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team123456789RHE
Kansas City000000001151
Toronto02310000X6110
WP: Dave Stieb (1–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–1)

Game 2

Wednesday, October 9, 1985, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team12345678910RHE
Kansas City00210000115103
Toronto00010201026100
WP: Tom Henke (1–0)   LP: Dan Quisenberry (0–1)
Home runs:
KCR: Willie Wilson (1), Pat Sheridan (1)
TOR: None

Game 3

Friday, October 11, 1985, at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Toronto0000500005131
Kansas City10011201X6101
WP: Steve Farr (1–0)   LP: Jim Clancy (0–1)
Home runs:
TOR: Rance Mulliniks (1), Jesse Barfield (1)
KCR: George Brett 2 (2), Jim Sundberg (1)

Game 4

Saturday, October 12, 1985, at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Toronto000000003370
Kansas City000001000120
WP: Tom Henke (2–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–2)

Game 5

Sunday, October 13, 1985, at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team123456789RHE
Toronto000000000080
Kansas City11000000X280
WP: Danny Jackson (1–0)   LP: Jimmy Key (0–1)

Game 6

Tuesday, October 15, 1985, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team123456789RHE
Kansas City101012000581
Toronto101001000382
WP: Mark Gubicza (1–0)   LP: Doyle Alexander (0–1)   Sv: Dan Quisenberry (1)
Home runs:
KCR: George Brett (3)
TOR: None

Game 7

Wednesday, October 16, 1985, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team123456789RHE
Kansas City010104000680
Toronto000010001281
WP: Charlie Leibrandt (1–2)   LP: Dave Stieb (1–1)
Home runs:
KCR: Pat Sheridan (2)
TOR: None

World Series
Main article: 1985 World Series
Manager DIck Howser (to left of podium) presents President Ronald Reagan with a Royals jacket, hat, and bat at the White House.

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. The 1985 World Series was played by National League rules, with no designated hitter, so the Royals were without the regular services of one of their best players, Hal McRae.

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, a game famous for a tremendous Kansas City comeback, unfortunately belittled in St. Louis as due to supposed umpire errors. A call in the 4th inning cost the Royals their closest scoring opportunity when Frank White was called out after stealing second, and appearing on replay to have been safe, and the next batter, Pat Sheridan, got a hit. 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",[6] 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 showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. Orta was later put out on the basepaths (the only out recorded in the inning), but Kansas City would go on to win as the Cardinals unravelled with a dropped pop up, a passed ball and poor pitching as the Royals capitalized on the opportunity. The Cardinals became completely 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 as the Cardinals' pitchers fell apart. AL Kansas City Royals (4) vs NL St. Louis Cardinals (3)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1St. Louis Cardinals – 3, Kansas City Royals – 1October 19Royals Stadium41,650[7]
2St. Louis Cardinals – 4, Kansas City Royals – 2October 20Royals Stadium41,656[8]
3Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1October 22Busch Stadium II53,634[9]
4Kansas City Royals – 0, St. Louis Cardinals – 3October 23Busch Stadium II53,634[10]
5Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1October 24Busch Stadium II53,634[11]
6St. Louis Cardinals – 1, Kansas City Royals – 2October 26Royals Stadium41,628[12]
7St. Louis Cardinals – 0, Kansas City Royals – 11October 27Royals Stadium41,658[13]

Postseason game log
1985 Kansas City Royals Postseason Game Log (8–6)

Free agents

After the season these players became free agents:

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
CJim Sundberg11536738901035.2450
1BSteve Balboni160600741463688.2431
2BFrank White149563621402269.24910
3BGeorge Brett15555010818430112.3359
SSOnix Concepción1313143264220.2044
LFLonnie Smith12044877115641.25740
CFWillie Wilson14160587168443.27843
RFDarryl Motley12338345851749.2226
DHHal McRae11232041831470.2590

[14]

Other batters
Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
Buddy Biancalana81138212616.1881
Bob Hegman100000.0000
Dane Iorg64130729121.2230
Lynn Jones110152123209.2110
Dave Leeper15341304.0880
Omar Moreno2470917212.2430
Jorge Orta1103003280445.2672
Greg Pryor6311482513.2190
Jamie Quirk195731604.2810
Jim Scranton641000.0000
Pat Sheridan782061847317.22811
John Wathan60145113419.2341

Starting pitchers
Player G GS IP W L ERA SO BB
Bud Black3333205.210154.3312259
Charlie Leibrandt3333237.21792.6910868
Bret Saberhagen3232235.12062.8715838
Danny Jackson3232208.014123.4211476
Mark Gubicza2928177.114104.069977

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L SV ERA SO
Steve Farr1637.22113.1136

Relief pitchers
Player G GS W L SV ERA SO
Dan Quisenberry84089372.3754
Joe Beckwith4901514.0780
Mike Jones3313304.7832
Mike LaCoss2101115.0926
Mark Huismann901001.939
Larry Gura3000112.462
Tony Ferreira200007.945
Dennis Leonard200000.001

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

Records and milestones

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.

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.

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Gene Lamont
AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Tommy Jones
A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Duane Gustavson
A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Frank Funk
Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Joe Jones

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fort Myers

References
  • "1985 Kansas City Royals Statistics and Roster". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  • 1985 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.

Notes:

  1. Danny Darwin Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  2. Jamie Quirk Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. Brian McRae Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. "Chris Jelic: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  5. Deion Sanders Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  6. "Bad Call Gives Royals New Life". MLB.com. October 26, 1985. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  7. "1985 World Series Game 1 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  8. "1985 World Series Game 2 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  9. "1985 World Series Game 3 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  10. "1985 World Series Game 4 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  11. "1985 World Series Game 5 – Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  12. "1985 World Series Game 6 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  13. "1985 World Series Game 7 – St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Retrieved June 10, 2008.
  14. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCR/1985.shtml
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