1977 Kansas City Royals season

The 1977 Kansas City Royals season was their ninth in Major League Baseball. The Royals' franchise-best 102–60 record led the majors and Kansas City won its second consecutive American League West title. Once again, the Royals lost to the New York Yankees in the postseason, falling 3–2 in the ALCS. Hal McRae led the American League in doubles, with 54. Al Cowens set a franchise single-season record with 112 runs batted in.

1977 Kansas City Royals
American League West champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	Joe Burke
Managers	Whitey Herzog (second full season)
Television	KBMA–TV 41 (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
Radio	WIBW–AM 580 KMBZ–AM 980 (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

Offseason

• November 5, 1976: Ruppert Jones was drafted from the Royals by the Seattle Mariners with the first pick in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft.^[1]
• December 6, 1976: Jamie Quirk, Jim Wohlford and a player to be named later were traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jim Colborn and Darrell Porter. The Kansas City Royals completed the trade by sending Bob McClure to the Brewers on March 15, 1977.^[2]
• December 7, 1976: Frank Ortenzio was traded by the Royals to the Montreal Expos for Rudy Kinard (minors).^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	102	60	.630	—	55‍–‍26	47‍–‍34
Texas Rangers	94	68	.580	8	44‍–‍37	50‍–‍31
Chicago White Sox	90	72	.556	12	48‍–‍33	42‍–‍39
Minnesota Twins	84	77	.522	17½	48‍–‍32	36‍–‍45
California Angels	74	88	.457	28	39‍–‍42	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	64	98	.395	38	29‍–‍52	35‍–‍46
Oakland Athletics	63	98	.391	38½	35‍–‍46	28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1977 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–8	5–6	5–5	11–4	12–3	4–7	11–4	6–4	8–7	8–2	7–3	4–6	10–5
Boston	8–6	—	7–3	3–7	8–7	9–6	5–5	9–6	4–6	8–7	8–3	10–1	6–4	12–3
California	6–5	3–7	—	8–7	6–4	4–6	6–9	5–5	7–8	4–7	5–10	9–6	5–10	6–4
Chicago	5–5	7–3	7–8	—	6–4	4–6	8–7	6–5	10–5	3–7	10–5	10–5	6–9	8–3
Cleveland	4–11	7–8	4–6	4–6	—	8–7	3–7	11–4	2–9	3–12	7–3	7–3	2–9	9–5
Detroit	3–12	6–9	6–4	6–4	7–8	—	3–8	10–5	5–5	6–9	5–5	5–6	2–8	10–5
Kansas City	7–4	5–5	9–6	7–8	7–3	8–3	—	8–2	10–5	5–5	9–6	11–4	8–7	8–2
Milwaukee	4–11	6–9	5–5	5–6	4–11	5–10	2–8	—	3–8	8–7	5–5	7–3	5–5	8–7
Minnesota	4–6	6–4	8–7	5–10	9–2	5–5	5–10	8–3	—	2–8	8–6	7–8	8–7	9–1
New York	7–8	7–8	7–4	7–3	12–3	9–6	5–5	7–8	8–2	—	9–2	6–4	7–3	9–6
Oakland	2–8	3–8	10–5	5–10	3–7	5–5	6–9	5–5	6–8	2–9	—	7–8	2–13	7–3
Seattle	3–7	1–10	6–9	5–10	3–7	6–5	4–11	3–7	8–7	4–6	8–7	—	9–6	4–6
Texas	6–4	4–6	10–5	9–6	9–2	8–2	7–8	5–5	7–8	3–7	13–2	6–9	—	7–4
Toronto	5–10	3–12	4–6	3–8	5–9	5–10	2–8	7–8	1–9	6–9	3–7	6–4	4–7	—

Opening Day starters

• George Brett
• Al Cowens
• Pete LaCock
• John Mayberry
• Hal McRae
• Amos Otis
• Freddie Patek
• Darrell Porter
• Paul Splittorff
• Frank White

Notable transactions

• May 27, 1977: Tim Ireland was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[4]

Roster

1977 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers 29 Doug Bird 48 Jim Colborn 37 Larry Gura 42 Tom Hall 16 Andy Hassler 39 Gary Lance 22 Dennis Leonard 17 Mark Littell 31 Randy McGilberry 23 Steve Mingori 33 Marty Pattin 34 Paul Splittorff 35 George Throop		Catchers 21 Buck Martinez 15 Darrell Porter 12 John Wathan Infielders  5 George Brett  6 Bob Heise  8 Pete LaCock  7 John Mayberry  3 Dave Nelson  2 Freddie Patek  1 Cookie Rojas 30 U L Washington 20 Frank White		Outfielders 18 Al Cowens  9 Clint Hurdle 10 Joe Lahoud 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis 25 Tom Poquette 32 Willie Wilson 19 Joe Zdeb		Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches 14 Steve Boros 36 Galen Cisco  4 Chuck Hiller 27 Charley Lau

Game log

Postseason Game log

1977 Postseason game log: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–1)
AL Championship Series: vs. New York Yankees 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–1) # Date Time (CT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box/ Streak 1 October 5 2:15 p.m. CDT @ Yankees W 7–2 Splittorff (1–0) Gullett (0–1) — 2:40 54,930 KC 1–0 W1 2 October 6 7:15 p.m. CDT @ Yankees L 2–6 Guidry (1–0) Hassler (0–1) — 2:58 56,230 Tied 1–1 L1 3 October 7 7:15 p.m. CDT Yankees W 6–2 Leonard (1–0) Torrez (0–1) — 2:19 41,285 KC 2–1 W1 4 October 8 12:15 p.m. CDT Yankees L 4–6 Lyle (1–0) Gura (0–1) — 3:08 41,135 Tied 2–2 L1 5 October 9 7:15 p.m. CDT Yankees L 3–5 Lyle (2–0) Leonard (1–1) — 3:04 41,133 NYY 3–2 L2
Legend:        = Win        = Loss      Bold = Royals team member

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	Darrell Porter	130	425	117	.275	16	60
1B	John Mayberry	153	543	125	.230	23	82
2B	Frank White	152	474	116	.245	5	50
3B	George Brett	139	564	176	.312	22	88
SS	Freddie Patek	154	497	130	.262	5	60
LF	Tom Poquette	106	342	100	.292	2	33
CF	Amos Otis	142	478	120	.251	17	78
RF	Al Cowens	162	606	189	.312	23	112
DH	Hal McRae	162	641	191	.298	21	92

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
Pete LaCock	88	218	66	.303	3	29
Joe Zdeb	105	195	58	.297	2	23
Cookie Rojas	64	156	39	.250	0	10
John Wathan	55	119	39	.328	2	21
Buck Martinez	29	80	18	.225	1	9
Joe Lahoud	34	65	17	.262	2	8
Bob Heise	54	62	16	.258	0	5
Dave Nelson	27	48	9	.188	0	4
Willie Wilson	13	34	11	.324	0	1
U L Washington	10	20	4	.200	0	1
Clint Hurdle	9	26	8	.308	2	7

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
Dennis Leonard	38	292.2	20	12	3.04	244
Jim Colborn	36	239.0	18	14	3.62	103
Paul Splittorff	37	229.0	16	6	3.69	99
Andy Hassler	29	156.1	9	6	4.20	83

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
Marty Pattin	31	128.1	10	13	3.58	55

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
Doug Bird	53	11	4	14	3.88	83
Larry Gura	52	8	5	10	3.13	46
Mark Littell	48	8	4	12	3.58	55
Steve Mingori	43	2	4	4	3.09	19
Tom Hall	6	0	0	0	3.52	10
George Throop	4	0	0	1	3.38	1
Randy McGilberry	3	0	1	0	5.14	1
Gary Lance	1	0	1	0	4.50	0

Other events

Before they were to play a game on June 12 against the Milwaukee Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium, thieves stole gloves and uniforms belonging to Royals players. Due to this, all but seven Kansas City Royals players had to wear Milwaukee road uniforms for the game played that day.^[5]

ALCS

Main article: 1977 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 5: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	7	9	0
New York	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	0
W: Paul Splittorff (1–0)  L: Don Gullett (0–1)
HRs: KC – Hal McRae (1), John Mayberry (1), Al Cowens (1) NYY – Thurman Munson (1)

Game 2

October 6: Yankee Stadium, New York City

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	1
New York	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	1	X	6	10	0
W: Ron Guidry (1–0)  L: Andy Hassler (0–1)
HRs: KC – none; NYY – Cliff Johnson (1)

Game 3

October 7: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4	1
Kansas City	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	1	X	6	12	1
W: Dennis Leonard (1–0)  L: Mike Torrez (0–1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Game 4

October 8: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	13	0
Kansas City	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	2
W: Sparky Lyle (1–0)  L: Larry Gura (0–1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Game 5

October 9: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	10	0
Kansas City	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	10	1
W: Sparky Lyle (2–0)  L: Dennis Leonard (1–1)
HRs: NYY – none; KC – none

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	John Sullivan
AA	Jacksonville Suns	Southern League	Gordon Mackenzie
A	Daytona Beach Islanders	Florida State League	José Martínez
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Bill Scripture