1989 Kansas City Royals season

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.

1989 Kansas City Royals
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Record	92–70 (.568)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	John Schuerholz
Managers	John Wathan
Television	WDAF-TV (Paul Splittorff, Denny Trease)
Radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

Offseason

• November 30, 1988: Bob Boone was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[1]
• December 6, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[2]
• December 6, 1988: Mauro Gozzo was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals in the 1988 minor league draft.^[3]
• March 22, 1989: Daryl Smith was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[4]

Regular season

• May 15, 1989: Royals pitcher Floyd Bannister threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs.^[5] 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.^[6]
• 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.^[7]
• The last time the Royals will win at least 90 games until the 2015 season.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	.611	—	54‍–‍27	45‍–‍36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	.568	7	55‍–‍26	37‍–‍44
California Angels	91	71	.562	8	52‍–‍29	39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	16	45‍–‍36	38‍–‍43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	.494	19	45‍–‍36	35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	.451	26	40‍–‍41	33‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	.429	29½	35‍–‍45	34‍–‍47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

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.^[8]

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
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 Tosca

^[9]