1987 Kansas City Royals season

March 2026 November 2013 Kansas City Royals 1987 Kansas City Royals Insignia (1969–2001).svg American League West Royals Stadium Kansas City, Missouri 83 79 y 2nd Ewing Kauffman John Schuerholz Billy Gardner, John Wathan WDAF-TV(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White) WIBW (AM)(Denny Matthews, Fred White) The 1987 Kansas City Royals season was the 19th season for the franchise, and their 15th at Kauffman Stadium. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses. Offseason December 10, 1986: Scott Bankhead, Steve Shields, and Mike Kingery were traded by the Royals to the Seattle Mariners for Danny Tartabull and Rick Luecken.Danny Tartabull at Baseball Reference December 22, 1986: Alan Hargesheimer was released by the Royals.Alan Hargesheimer at Baseball Reference March 20, 1987: Derek Botelho was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Kansas City Royals for Eddie Tanner (minors) and Pete Carey (minors).https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/botelde01.shtml Derek Botelho Stats March 27, 1987: David Cone and Chris Jelic were traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo.David Cone at Baseball Reference March 30, 1987: Jim Sundberg was traded by the Royals to the Chicago Cubs for Thad Bosley and Dave Gumpert.Jim Sundberg at Baseball Reference March 31, 1987: Larry Owen was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Larry Owen at Baseball Reference Billy Gardner is officially named the team's manager as Dick Howser's replacement during spring training. Howser had contracted brain cancer the previous season and was relieved of duty at the All-Star break. Howser attempted to return as manager for the season, but was physically incapable due to after-effects from his cancer treatments. Regular season Season standings Kansas City Royals Record vs. opponents KC Notable transactions June 2, 1987: Bret Barberie was drafted by the Royals in the 65th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Bret Barberie at Baseball Reference Notable events June 17, 1987: Manager Dick Howser passes away from brain cancer. Roster 1987 Kansas City Royals roster Roster Pitchers 17 Rick Anderson 40 Bud Black 49 John Davis 26 Steve Farr 28 Gene Garber 39 Jerry Don Gleaton 23 Mark Gubicza 30 Dave Gumpert 15 Danny Jackson 37 Charlie Leibrandt 31 Mélido Pérez 29 Dan Quisenberry 18 Bret Saberhagen 31 Bob Shirley 19 Bob Stoddard Catchers  7 Ed Hearn 28 Mike Macfarlane 24 Larry Owen  9 Jamie Quirk Infielders 45 Steve Balboni  1 Buddy Biancalana  5 George Brett  3 Ross Jones 38 Scotti Madison 32 Bill Pecota  2 Ángel Salazar 33 Kevin Seitzer 20 Frank White Outfielders 12 Juan Beníquez 27 Thad Bosley 16 Bo Jackson 21 Lonnie Smith  4 Danny Tartabull 25 Gary Thurman  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 22 Jim Eisenreich 11 Hal McRae  3 Jorge Orta Manager 14 Billy Gardner 12 John Wathan Coaches 43 Gary Blaylock 41 Joe Jones 42 José Martínez 11 Hal McRae 46 Ed Napoleon 44 Jimmie Schaffer 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 Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI C Jamie Quirk 109 296 70 .236 5 33 1B George Brett 115 427 124 .290 22 78 2B Frank White 154 563 138 .245 17 78 3B Kevin Seitzer 161 641 207 .323 15 83 SS Ángel Salazar 116 317 65 .205 2 21 LF Bo Jackson 116 396 93 .235 22 53 CF Willie Wilson 146 610 170 .279 4 30 RF Danny Tartabull 158 582 180 .309 34 101 DH Steve Balboni 121 386 80 .207 24 60 Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Juan Beníquez 57 174 41 .236 3 26 Lonnie Smith 48 167 42 .251 3 8 Larry Owen 76 164 31 .189 5 14 Bill Pecota 66 156 43 .276 3 14 Thad Bosley 80 140 39 .279 1 16 Ross Jones 39 114 29 .254 0 10 Jim Eisenreich 44 105 25 .238 4 21 Gary Thurman 27 81 24 .296 0 5 Jorge Orta 21 50 9 .180 2 4 Buddy Biancalana 37 47 10 .213 1 7 Hal McRae 18 32 10 .313 1 9 Mike MacFarlane 8 19 4 .211 0 3 Ed Hearn 6 17 5 .294 0 3 Scotti Madison 7 15 4 .267 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 Bret Saberhagen 33 257.0 18 10 3.36 163 Mark Gubicza 35 241.2 13 18 3.98 166 Charlie Leibrandt 35 240.1 16 11 3.41 151 Danny Jackson 36 224.0 9 18 4.02 152 Mélido Pérez 3 10.1 1 1 7.84 5 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 Bud Black 29 122.1 8 6 3.60 61 Rick Anderson 6 13.0 0 2 13.85 12 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 Dan Quisenberry 47 4 1 8 2.76 17 Jerry Don Gleaton 48 4 4 5 4.26 44 Steve Farr 47 4 3 1 4.15 88 John Davis 27 5 2 2 2.27 24 Bob Stoddard 17 1 3 1 4.28 23 Gene Garber 13 0 0 8 2.51 Dave Gumpert 8 0 0 0 6.05 13 Bob Shirley 3 0 0 0 14.73 1 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Omaha Royals American Association John Wathan and Frank Funk AA Memphis Chicks Southern League Bob Schaefer A Fort Myers Royals Florida State League Jerry Terrell A Appleton Foxes Midwest League Ken Berry A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Rick Mathews Rookie GCL Royals Gulf Coast League Luis SilverioJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 References 1987 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1987 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac Category:Kansas City Royals seasons Kansas City Royals Kansas City