1971 Kansas City Royals season

The 1971 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 85 wins and 76 losses, 16 games behind the Oakland Athletics. This was also the first time in franchise history that the Royals had finished with a winning record.^[1] It happened in only their third season, 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.

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
Local television	KMBC-TV
Local radio	KMBZ (Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews)
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Offseason

February 2, 1971: Ellie Rodríguez was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor.^[2]
Prior to 1971 season: Gary Lance was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.^[3]

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

May 11, 1971: Tom Matchick was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Savage.^[4]
June 8, 1971: George Brett was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.^[5]

Roster

1971 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 36 Ted Abernathy 27 Wally Bunker 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)

1971 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

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

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
3B	Paul Schaal	161	548	150	.274	11	63
LF	Lou Piniella	126	448	125	.279	3	51

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
Chuck Harrison	49	143	31	.217	2	21
Carl Taylor	20	39	7	.179	0	3
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
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
Roger Nelson	13	34	0	1	5.29	29
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

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

^ Kansas City Royals Team History & Encyclopedia
^ 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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