1981 Kansas City Royals season explained

Kansas City Royals
Season:	1981
League:	American League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Royals Stadium
City:	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners:	Ewing Kauffman
General Managers:	Joe Burke
Managers:	Jim Frey and Dick Howser
Television:	WDAF-TV 4 (Al Wisk, Denny Trease)
Radio:	WIBW–AM 580 KMBZ–AM 980 (Denny Matthews, Fred White)

The 1981 Kansas City Royals season was their 13th in Major League Baseball. The 1981 season was interrupted by a players strike from June 12 to July 31, and resumed on August 10. Major League Baseball officials decided to split the season, and the division winners of both halves would advance to the playoffs. The Royals were 20–30 and in fifth place in the American League West when the strike began, but won the second half with a 30–23 mark. Dick Howser replaced Jim Frey as manager on August 31. Kansas City's overall 50-53 record made the Royals the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason with a losing mark. Kansas City lost to the first half American League West winner Oakland Athletics 3–0 in the ALDS.

Offseason

January 6, 1981: Derek Botelho was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.^[1]

Regular season

August 10, 1981: Cal Ripken Jr. made his major league debut for the Baltimore Orioles in a game against the Royals.^[2]

Notable transactions

April 3, 1981: Bombo Rivera was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[3]
June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
- Dave Leeper was drafted by the Royals in the 1st round (23rd pick). Player signed June 10, 1981.^[4]
- David Cone was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round. Player signed June 10, 1981.^[5]

Roster

1981 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers	CatchersInfielders	OutfieldersOther batters	ManagerCoaches

Game log

Regular season

First half

|-|-|-|- style="text-align:center;"| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Canceled games

|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Athletics || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Brewers || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Brewers || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-style=background:#bbb| — || || || @ Brewers || colspan="8" | Canceled (Strike)|-|-|- style="text-align:center;"| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

Second half

Postseason Game log

|-|- style="text-align:center;"| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Royals team member

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	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	89	301	76	.252	1	19
1B	101	349	93	.266	17	53
2B	94	364	91	.250	9	38
SS	98	339	77	.227	2	29
3B	89	347	109	.314	6	43
LF	102	439	133	.303	1	32
CF	99	372	100	.269	9	57
RF	42	125	29	.232	2	8
DH	101	389	106	.272	7	36

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
59	118	29	.246	2	13
46	100	25	.250	0	10
28	76	25	.329	4	15
22	56	17	.304	1	9
26	55	16	.291	0	8
27	49	11	.224	0	5
24	44	10	.227	0	5
21	22	3	.136	0	1
12	14	2	.143	0	0
3	1	0	.000	0	0
4	0	0	----	0	0
2	0	0	----	0	0
2	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
26	201.2	13	11	2.99	107
23	172.1	11	8	2.72	61
19	101.2	6	6	5.40	47
21	99.0	5	5	4.36	48
12	75.2	6	3	3.21	29

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
17	52.0	2	3	3.46	27
10	39.0	1	3	5.54	11
8	19.2	0	4	8.69	20

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
40	1	4	18	1.73	20
29	4	5	4	2.77	25
22	1	1	2	4.18	7
2	0	0	0	4.50	1
1	0	0	0	0.00	1

ALDS

See main article: article and 1981 American League Division Series. Oakland wins series, 3-0.

Game	Score	Date
1	Oakland 4, Kansas City 0	October 6
2	Oakland 2, Kansas City 1	October 7
3	Oakland 4, Kansas City 1	October 9

Farm system

References

Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

1981 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
1981 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac

Notes and References

Web site: Derek Botelho Stats. Baseball-Reference.com.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ripkeca01.shtml Cal Ripken, Jr.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/riverbo01.shtml Bombo Rivera
https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leepeda01.shtml Dave Leeper
https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/coneda01.shtml David Cone