1979 Kansas City Royals season

March 2026 November 2013 Kansas City Royals 1979 Kansas City Royals Insignia (1969–2001).svg American League West Royals Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 85 77 y 2nd Ewing Kauffman Joe Burke Whitey Herzog (fourth full season) KBMA(Steve Shannon, Dave Nelson) WIBW (AM)(Denny Matthews, Fred White) The 1979 Kansas City Royals season was their 11th season in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 85–77, three games behind the California Angels and ending Kansas City's run of three consecutive division titles. Darrell Porter tied a single-season franchise record with 112 runs batted in. George Brett led the American League in hits (212) and triples (20). Manager Whitey Herzog was fired following the season. Offseason January 9, 1979: Mike Bielecki was drafted by the Royals in the 6th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Mike Bielecki at Baseball Reference February 26, 1979: Eduardo Rodríguez was purchased by the Royals from the Milwaukee Brewers.Eduardo Rodríguez page on Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Kansas City Royals Record vs. opponents KC Notable transactions April 3, 1979: Doug Bird was traded by the Royals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Todd Cruz.Todd Cruz at Baseball Reference April 27, 1979: George Throop was traded by the Royals to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later. The Astros completed the deal by sending Keith Drumright to the Royals on October 26.Keith Drumright at Baseball Reference June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft Atlee Hammaker was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (21st pick).Atlee Hammaker at Baseball Reference Dan Marino was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round (99th pick overall).https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.cgi?year_ID=1979&round=4&draft_type=junreg 4th Round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft John Elway was drafted by the Royals in the 18th round (463rd pick overall).https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/index.cgi?year_ID=1979&round=18&draft_type=junreg 18th Round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft Roster 1979 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers 40 Steve Busby 25 Craig Chamberlain 31 Gary Christenson 35 Craig Eaton 38 Rich Gale 32 Larry Gura 39 Al Hrabosky 22 Dennis Leonard 27 Renie Martin 23 Steve Mingori 42 Bill Paschall 33 Marty Pattin 29 Dan Quisenberry 21 Eduardo Rodríguez 34 Paul Splittorff 35 George Throop Catchers 13 Jim Gaudet 15 Darrell Porter 9,10 Jamie Quirk Infielders 43 Germán Barranca  5 George Brett  7 Todd Cruz  8 Pete LaCock  2 Freddie Patek  0 George Scott  1 Jerry Terrell 30 U L Washington 12 John Wathan 20 Frank White Outfielders  3 Steve Braun 18 Al Cowens 9,10 Clint Hurdle 28 Jim Nettles 26 Amos Otis 25 Tom Poquette  6 Willie Wilson 19 Joe Zdeb Other batters 11 Hal McRae Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches 14 Steve Boros 36 Galen Cisco  4 Chuck Hiller 16 John Sullivan Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader 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; SB = Stolen bases Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB C Darrell Porter 157 533 155 .291 20 1123 1B Pete LaCock 132 408 113 .277 3 562 2B Frank White Frank White (baseball) 127 467 124 .266 10 4828 3B George Brett 154 645 212 .329 23 10717 SS Freddie Patek 106 306 77 .252 1 3711 LF Willie Wilson Willie Wilson (baseball) 154 588 185 .315 6 4983 CF Al Cowens 136 516 152 .295 9 7310 RF Hal McRae 101 393 113 .288 10 745 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 U L Washington 101 268 68 .254 2 25 John Wathan 90 199 41 .206 2 28 Clint Hurdle 59 171 41 .240 3 30 George Scott George Scott (first baseman) 44 146 39 .267 1 20 Todd Cruz 55 118 24 .203 2 15 Steve Braun Steve Braun (baseball) 58 116 31 .267 4 10 Jamie Quirk 51 79 24 .304 1 11 Jerry Terrell 31 40 12 .300 1 2 Tom Poquette 21 26 5 .192 0 3 Jim Nettles 11 23 2 .087 0 1 Joe Zdeb 15 23 4 .174 0 0 Jim Gaudet 3 6 1 .167 0 0 Germán Barranca 5 5 3 .600 0 0 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 Paul Splittorff 36 240.0 15 17 4.24 77 Dennis Leonard 32 236.0 14 12 4.08 126 Larry Gura 39 233.2 13 12 4.47 85 Rich Gale 34 181.2 9 10 5.65 103 Craig Chamberlain 10 69.2 4 4 3.75 30 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 Steve Busby 22 94.1 6 6 3.63 45 Marty Pattin 31 94.1 5 2 4.58 41 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 Al Hrabosky 58 9 4 11 3.74 39 Dan Quisenberry 32 3 2 5 3.15 13 Steve Mingori 30 3 3 1 5.79 18 Eduardo Rodríguez Eduardo Rodríguez (right-handed pitcher) 29 4 1 2 4.84 26 Renie Martin 25 0 3 5 5.19 25 Bill Paschall 7 0 1 0 6.59 3 Gary Christenson Gary Christenson (baseball) 6 0 0 0 3.38 4 Craig Eaton 5 0 0 0 2.70 4 George Throop George Throop (baseball) 4 0 0 0 13.50 1 Jerry Terrell 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 Awards and honors All-Star Game Darrell Porter, Catcher, Starter Frank White, Second Base, Starter George Brett, Third Base, Starter Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Omaha Royals American Association Gordon Mackenzie AA Jacksonville Suns Southern League Joe Jones A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Gene Lamont Rookie GCL Royals Blue Gulf Coast League Brian Murphy Rookie GCL Royals Gold Gulf Coast League José Martínez Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1979 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac Category:Kansas City Royals seasons Kansas City Royals season Kansas City