411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1989 Kansas City Royals season
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
March 2026
November 2013
Kansas City Royals 1989 Kansas City Royals Insignia (1969–2001).svg American League West Royals Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 92 70 y 2nd Ewing Kauffman John Schuerholz John Wathan WDAF-TV(Paul Splittorff, Denny Trease) WIBW (AM)(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
The 1989 Kansas City Royals season was the 21st season for the franchise, their 17th at Kauffman Stadium and their 3rd full season under the management of John Wathan. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. The Royals' record was tied for the third best in baseball, but in the pre-wild card era, the team did not qualify for the post-season.
Offseason
November 30, 1988: Bob Boone was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Bob Boone at Baseball Reference
December 6, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Bill Buckner at Baseball Reference
December 6, 1988: Mauro Gozzo was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals in the 1988 minor league draft.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gozzoma01.shtml Mauro Gozzo Stats
March 22, 1989: Daryl Smith was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Daryl Smith at Baseball Reference
Regular season
May 15, 1989: Royals pitcher Floyd Bannister threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs.3 Pitch Inning This was accomplished in the second inning.
June 5, 1989: Kansas City outfielder Bo Jackson made a spectacular defensive play in a game against the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. With the game tied at 3–3 in the bottom of the 10th inning and Harold Reynolds on first, Scott Bradley lashed a double to deep left field. Reynolds, running with the pitch, thought he would easily score the winning run on the play, and was shocked when teammate Darnell Coles instructed him to slide. Jackson fielded Bradley's double and launched a flat-footed, 300-foot throw on the fly to Royals catcher Bob Boone, who tagged Reynolds out at the plate.Posnanski Joe Between the Seams: Recalling Bo Jackson's days in baseball http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003726909_seam30.html?syndication=rss Kansas City Star May 30, 2007 April 8, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090425043017/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003726909_seam30.html?syndication=rss April 25, 2009 live mdy
During the season, Bret Saberhagen would be the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Royals in the 20th century.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0
The last time the Royals will win at least 90 games until the 2015 season.
Season standings
Kansas City Royals
Record vs. opponents
KC
Transactions
June 5, 1989: Brent Mayne was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed June 16, 1989.https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maynebr01.shtml Brent Mayne Stats
Roster
1989 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers
55 Kevin Appier
27 Luis Aquino
19 Floyd Bannister
45 Bob Buchanan
34 Stan Clarke
49 Steve Crawford
54 José DeJesús
26 Steve Farr
39 Jerry Don Gleaton
36 Tom Gordon
23 Mark Gubicza
38 Terry Leach
37 Charlie Leibrandt
40 Rick Luecken
34 Larry McWilliams
21 Jeff Montgomery
18 Bret Saberhagen Catchers
8 Bob Boone
15 Mike Macfarlane
Infielders
5 George Brett
14 Bill Buckner
9 Luis de los Santos
29 Rey Palacios
32 Bill Pecota
33 Kevin Seitzer
1 Kurt Stillwell
3 Brad Wellman
20 Frank White Outfielders
22 Jim Eisenreich
16 Bo Jackson
24 Jeff Schulz
30 Pat Tabler
4 Danny Tartabull
25 Gary Thurman
6 Willie Wilson
17 Matt Winters Manager
12 John Wathan
Coaches
44 Glenn Ezell (bullpen)
43 Frank Funk (pitching)
41 Adrian Garrett (third base)
28 Mike Lum (hitting)
7 John Mayberry (bench)
42 Bob Schaefer (first base)
Player stats
= Indicates team 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
Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Bob Boone 131 405 111 .274 1 43 1B George Brett 124 457 129 .282 12 80 2B Frank White 135 418 107 .256 2 36 3B Kevin Seitzer 160 597 168 .281 4 48 SS Kurt Stillwell 130 463 121 .261 7 54 LF Bo Jackson 135 515 132 .256 32 105 CF Willie Wilson 112 383 97 .253 3 43 RF Danny Tartabull 133 441 118 .268 18 62 DH Pat Tabler 123 390 101 .259 2 42
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 Jim Eisenreich 134 475 139 .293 9 59 Brad Wellman 103 178 41 .230 2 12 Bill Buckner 79 176 38 .216 1 16 Mike Macfarlane 69 157 35 .223 2 19 Matt Winters 42 107 25 .234 2 9 Gary Thurman 72 87 17 .195 0 5 Luis de los Santos 28 87 22 .253 0 6 Bill Pecota 65 83 17 .205 3 5 Rey Palacios 55 47 8 .170 1 8 Jeff Schulz 7 9 2 .222 0 1
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player G IP W L ERA SO Bret Saberhagen 36 262.1 23 6 2.16 193 Mark Gubicza 36 255.0 15 11 3.04 173 Charlie Leibrandt 33 161.0 5 11 5.14 73 Floyd Bannister 14 75.1 4 1 4.66 35 Stan Clarke 2 7.0 0 2 15.43 2
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 Tom Gordon 49 163.0 17 9 3.64 153 Luis Aquino 34 141.1 6 8 3.50 68 Larry McWilliams 8 32.2 2 2 4.13 24 Kevin Appier 6 21.2 1 4 9.14 10 José DeJesús 3 8.0 0 0 4.50 2
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player G W L SV ERA SO Jeff Montgomery 63 7 3 18 1.37 94 Steve Farr 51 2 5 18 4.12 56 Terry Leach 30 5 6 0 4.15 34 Steve Crawford 25 3 1 0 2.83 33 Rick Luecken 19 2 1 1 3.42 16 Jerry Don Gleaton 15 0 0 0 5.65 9 Bob Buchanan 2 0 0 0 16.20 3
Awards and honors
Bo Jackson, All-Star Game, American League, Starting Lineup
Bo Jackson, MLB All-Star Game MVP
Bret Saberhagen, Cy Young Award
Farm system
Minor League Baseball
AAA Omaha Royals American Association Sal Rende AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Jeff Cox A Baseball City Royals Florida State League Luis Silverio A Appleton Foxes Midwest League Brian Poldberg A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League P. K. Kirsch Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Carlos ToscaJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
References
External links
1989 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
1989 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac
Category:Kansas City Royals seasons
Kansas City Royals
Category:1989 in sports in Missouri