1976 Kansas City Royals season
The 1976 Kansas City Royals season was their eighth in Major League Baseball. The Royals won their first division title, taking the American League West with a record of 90-72 in the first full season as manager for Whitey Herzog. Kansas City was defeated 3-2 by the New York Yankees in the 1976 American League Championship Series. George Brett (.333) became the first Royals player to win a league batting title.
1976 Kansas City Royals | |
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1976 AL West Champions | |
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Other information | |
Owner(s) | Ewing Kauffman |
General manager(s) | Joe Burke |
Manager(s) | Whitey Herzog (first full season) |
Local television | KBMA (Denny Matthews, Fred White) |
Local radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White) |
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Offseason
- September 29, 1975: Harmon Killebrew was released by the Royals.[1]
- November 12, 1975: Nelson Briles was traded by the Royals to the Texas Rangers for Dave Nelson.[2]
- March 3, 1976: Roger Nelson was signed by the Royals as a free agent.[3]
Regular season
Season standings
AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Kansas City Royals | 90 | 72 | 0.556 | — | 49–32 | 41–40 |
Oakland Athletics | 87 | 74 | 0.540 | 2½ | 51–30 | 36–44 |
Minnesota Twins | 85 | 77 | 0.525 | 5 | 44–37 | 41–40 |
Texas Rangers | 76 | 86 | 0.469 | 14 | 39–42 | 37–44 |
California Angels | 76 | 86 | 0.469 | 14 | 38–43 | 38–43 |
Chicago White Sox | 64 | 97 | 0.398 | 25½ | 35–45 | 29–52 |
Record vs. opponents
1976 American League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||
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Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX | |
Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | |
Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 | |
California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 | |
Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 | |
Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 | |
Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | |
Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 | |
Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 | |
Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | |
New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | |
Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | |
Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |
Opening Day lineup
- Dave Nelson, DH
- Amos Otis, CF
- George Brett, 3B
- John Mayberry, 1B
- Hal McRae, LF
- Al Cowens, RF
- Fran Healy, C
- Freddie Patek, SS
- Frank White, 2B
Notable transactions
- June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
- Bill Paschall was drafted by the Royals in the 3rd round.[4]
- Ken Phelps was drafted by the Royals in the 15th round.[5]
Roster
1976 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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 |
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C | Buck Martinez | 95 | 267 | 61 | .228 | 5 | 34 |
1B | John Mayberry | 161 | 594 | 138 | .232 | 13 | 95 |
2B | Frank White | 152 | 446 | 102 | .229 | 2 | 46 |
3B | George Brett | 159 | 645 | 215 | .333 | 7 | 67 |
SS | Freddie Patek | 144 | 432 | 104 | .241 | 1 | 43 |
LF | Tom Poquette | 104 | 344 | 104 | .302 | 2 | 34 |
CF | Amos Otis | 153 | 592 | 165 | .279 | 18 | 86 |
RF | Al Cowens | 152 | 581 | 154 | .265 | 3 | 59 |
DH | Hal McRae | 149 | 527 | 175 | .332 | 8 | 73 |
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 |
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Jim Wohlford | 107 | 293 | 73 | .249 | 1 | 24 |
Bob Stinson | 79 | 209 | 55 | .263 | 2 | 25 |
Dave Nelson | 78 | 153 | 36 | .235 | 1 | 17 |
Cookie Rojas | 63 | 132 | 32 | .242 | 0 | 16 |
Jamie Quirk | 64 | 114 | 28 | .246 | 1 | 15 |
Tony Solaita | 31 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 0 | 9 |
Ruppert Jones | 28 | 51 | 11 | .216 | 1 | 7 |
John Wathan | 27 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 0 | 5 |
Fran Healy | 8 | 24 | 3 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
Tommy Davis | 8 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 0 |
Willie Wilson | 12 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 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 |
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Dennis Leonard | 35 | 259 | 17 | 10 | 3.51 | 150 |
Al Fitzmorris | 35 | 220.1 | 15 | 11 | 3.06 | 80 |
Paul Splittorff | 26 | 158.2 | 11 | 8 | 3.97 | 59 |
Andy Hassler | 19 | 99.2 | 5 | 6 | 2.89 | 45 |
Steve Busby | 13 | 71.2 | 3 | 3 | 4.40 | 29 |
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 |
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Doug Bird | 39 | 197.2 | 12 | 10 | 3.37 | 107 |
Marty Pattin | 44 | 141 | 8 | 14 | 2.49 | 65 |
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 |
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Mark Littell | 60 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 2.08 | 92 |
Steve Mingori | 55 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2.32 | 38 |
Tom Hall | 31 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.45 | 25 |
Larry Gura | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2.30 | 22 |
Tom Bruno | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 11 |
Bob McClure | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 3 |
Jerry Cram | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 2 |
Roger Nelson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 4 |
Ray Sadecki | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
Ken Sanders | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
ALCS
Game 1
October 9, 1976, at Royals Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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New York | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
W: Catfish Hunter (1–0) L: Larry Gura (0–1) | ||||||||||||
HR: None |
Game 2
October 10, 1976, at Royals Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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New York | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 5 |
Kansas City | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
W: Paul Splittorff (1–0) L: Ed Figueroa (0–1) | ||||||||||||
HR: None |
Game 3
October 12, 1976, at Yankee Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Kansas City | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 9 | 0 |
W: Dock Ellis (1–0) L: Andy Hassler (0–1) S: Sparky Lyle (1) | ||||||||||||
HR: NYY: – Chris Chambliss (1) |
Game 4
October 13, 1976, at Yankee Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Kansas City | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
New York | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
W: Doug Bird (1–0) L: Catfish Hunter (1–1) S: Steve Mingori (1) | ||||||||||||
HR: NYY: – Graig Nettles 2 (2) |
Game 5
October 14, 1976, at Yankee Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Kansas City | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
New York | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
W: Dick Tidrow (1–0) L: Mark Littell (0–1) | ||||||||||||
HR: KCR: – John Mayberry (1), George Brett (1) NYY: – Chris Chambliss (2) |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Billy Gardner |
AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Bill Scripture |
A | Waterloo Royals | Midwest League | John Sullivan |
Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | José Martínez |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Waterloo
Notes
- Killebrew cut by Royals
- Royals trade Briles to Texas
- Roger Nelson at Baseball Reference
- Bill Paschall at Baseball Reference
- Ken Phelps at Baseball Reference
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
External links
- 1976 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1976 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac