1970 Kansas City Royals season

March 2026 November 2013 Kansas City Royals 1970 Kansas City Royals Insignia (1969–2001).svg American League West Municipal Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 65 97 y 4th Ewing Kauffman Cedric Tallis Charlie Metro and Bob Lemon KMBC-TV KMBZ(Buddy Blattner, Denny Matthews) The 1970 Kansas City Royals season was their second in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished tied for fourth place with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League West with a record of 65–97, 33 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins. Charlie Metro took over as manager when Joe Gordon resigned after the Royals' initial season, but was replaced by Bob Lemon following a 19–33 start. Bob Oliver hit a team-high 27 home runs, becoming the first Royals player to hit 20 or more home runs in a season. Offseason December 3, 1969: Joe Foy was traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Amos Otis and Bob Johnson.Amos Otis page at Baseball Reference January 17, 1970: Greg Minton was drafted by the Royals in the third round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.Greg Minton page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Kansas City Royals Record vs. opponents KC Notable transactions May 28, 1970: Mike Fiore was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Tom Matchick.Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference Roster 1970 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers 36 Ted Abernathy 27 Wally Bunker 22 Tom Burgmeier 29 Bill Butler 25 Moe Drabowsky 41 Dick Drago 23 Al Fitzmorris 32 Mike Hedlund 30 Bob Johnson 21 Aurelio Monteagudo 17 Dave Morehead 35 Roger Nelson 32 Don O'Riley 13 Jim Rooker 43 Paul Splittorff 28,48 Ken Wright 40 Jim York Catchers 20,25 Jim Campanis  8 Ed Kirkpatrick  6 Buck Martinez 11 Ellie Rodríguez 31 Hawk Taylor Infielders 14 Jerry Adair  1 Luis Alcaraz 19 Mike Fiore 15 Bobby Floyd 24 Jackie Hernández 19 Tom Matchick 33 Bob Oliver  1 Cookie Rojas 10 Paul Schaal 15 Rich Severson  7 Billy Sorrell Outfielders 18 Pat Kelly 16 Joe Keough 26 Amos Otis  9 Lou Piniella 6,12 George Spriggs Manager  2 Bob Lemon 36 Charlie Metro Coaches  5 Dan Carnevale (Bench)  4 Harry Dunlop (First base)  2 Bob Lemon (Pitching)  3 Joe Schultz (Third base) 14 George Strickland 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 Ed Kirkpatrick 134 424 97 .229 18 62 1B Bob Oliver 160 612 159 .260 27 99 2B Cookie Rojas 98 384 100 .260 2 28 SS Jackie Hernández 83 238 55 .231 2 10 3B Paul Schaal 124 380 102 .268 5 35 LF Lou Piniella 144 542 163 .301 11 88 CF Amos Otis 159 620 176 .284 11 58 RF Pat Kelly 136 452 106 .235 6 38 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 Rich Severson 77 240 60 .250 1 22 Ellie Rodríguez 80 231 52 .225 1 15 Joe Keough 57 183 59 .322 4 21 Tom Matchick 55 158 31 .196 0 11 Billy Sorrell 57 135 36 .267 4 14 George Spriggs 51 130 27 .208 1 7 Luis Alcaraz 35 120 20 .167 1 14 Mike Fiore 25 72 13 .181 0 4 Hawk Taylor 57 55 9 .164 0 6 Jim Campanis 31 54 7 .130 2 2 Bobby Floyd 14 43 14 .326 0 9 Jerry Adair 7 27 4 .148 0 1 Buck Martinez 6 9 1 .111 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 Dick Drago 35 240.0 9 15 3.75 127 Jim Rooker 38 203.2 10 15 3.54 117 Bill Butler 25 140.2 4 12 3.77 75 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 Bob Johnson Bob Johnson (pitcher) 40 214.0 8 13 3.07 206 Wally Bunker 24 121.2 2 11 4.22 59 Dave Morehead 28 121.2 3 5 3.62 69 Al Fitzmorris 43 117.2 8 5 4.44 47 Don O'Riley 9 23.1 0 0 5.40 13 Roger Nelson Roger Nelson (baseball) 4 9.0 0 2 10.00 3 Paul Splittorff 2 8.2 0 1 7.27 10 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 Ted Abernathy 36 9 3 12 2.59 49 Ken Wright 47 1 2 3 5.23 30 Tom Burgmeier 41 6 6 1 3.16 43 Moe Drabowsky 24 1 2 2 3.28 38 Aurelio Monteagudo 21 1 1 0 2.96 18 Mike Hedlund 9 2 3 0 7.20 5 Jim York 4 1 1 0 3.38 6 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Omaha Royals American Association Jack McKeon AA Elmira Pioneers Eastern League Harry Malmberg A San Jose Bees California League Buddy Peterson A Waterloo Hawks Midwest League Steve Boros Rookie Kingsport Royals Appalachian League Owen Friend Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Dave Pavlesic LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha Elmira affiliation shared with San Diego Padres 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 1970 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference 1970 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Kansas City Royals seasons Kansas City Royals season Kansas City Category:Long stubs with short prose