1985 Kansas City Royals season

1985 Kansas City Royals
World Series Champions AL Champions AL Western Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1969)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Royals Stadium (since 1973)
Kansas City, Missouri (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Ewing Kauffman
General manager(s)	John Schuerholz
Manager(s)	Dick Howser
Local television	WDAF-TV (Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Local radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
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The 1985 Kansas City Royals season ended with the Royals' first world championship win over their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals won the Western Division of the American League for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in ten years. The team improved its record to 91–71 on the strength of its pitching, led by Bret Saberhagen's Cy Young Award-winning performance.

In the playoffs, the Royals went on to win the American League Championship Series for just the second time and the World Series for the first time (they previously lost the 1980 World Series). Both the ALCS and the World Series were won in seven games after the Royals lost the first two games at home and three of the first four games overall. The championship series against the Cardinals was forever remembered in St. Louis by umpires' supposedly blown calls in Game Six: one that cost the Royals a run in the 4th, and a "blown call" by umpire Don Denkinger that allowed Jorge Orta to reach first. The World Series is remembered in Kansas City as the culmination of ten years of dominance by the Royals, during which they reached the playoffs seven times, with stars such as George Brett, Hal McRae and Willie Wilson.

The team was managed by Dick Howser in his fourth and final full season with the Royals.

Offseason

• January 18, 1985: Danny Darwin was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Texas Rangers with a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Jim Sundberg to the Kansas City Royals. The New York Mets sent Tim Leary to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Kansas City Royals sent Don Slaught to the Texas Rangers. The Kansas City Royals sent Frank Wills to the New York Mets. The Texas Rangers sent Bill Nance (minors) (January 30, 1985) to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade.
• February 25, 1985: Jamie Quirk was signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.

Offense

Team leaders

Statistic		Name
Runs	108	George Brett
Hits	184	George Brett
Doubles	38	George Brett
Triples	21	Willie Wilson
Home runs	36	Steve Balboni
Runs batted in	112	George Brett
Stolen bases	43	Willie Wilson
Batting average	.335	George Brett
Notes: ^# Led the majors ^1 Led league ^2 Second place ^3 Third place

Pitching

Team leaders

Statistic		Name
Games pitched	84	Dan Quisenberry
Innings pitched	237.2	Charlie Leibrandt
Wins	20	Bret Saberhagen
Strikeouts	158	Bret Saberhagen
Complete games	10	Bret Saberhagen
Shutouts	3	Danny Jackson & Charlie Leibrandt
Saves	37	Dan Quisenberry
Earned run average	2.69	Charlie Leibrandt
Notes: ^# Led the majors ^1 Led league ^2 Second place ^3 Third place

Regular season

The Royals opened the season at home on Monday, April 8, in a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In his second straight opening day start, Bud Black faced off against the Blue Jay's Dave Stieb and allowed only a single earned run on four hits as the Royals won 2–1. Stieb held the Royals scoreless for 6⅔ innings before giving up the game winning runs on a double by Willie Wilson. Black exited the game in the eighth inning with two outs after giving up a single and a walk. Dan Quisenberry closed out the game for his first save of the new season. The attendance of 41,086 was the highest of any home opener and wasn't exceeded until the 2005 season. It was also the second highest of any of the Royals' regular season home games in 1985.

The Seattle Mariners had the strongest start in the division—winning their first six games at home by sweeping the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins. But the Mariners quickly faded into sixth place as they lost twelve of their next thirteen games. After their losses in Seattle, the Athletics returned home to win seven of their next nine games, and on April 21 were in a three-way tie for first with the Mariners and the California Angels. However, a seven-game losing streak at the end of April pushed them down into sixth place on May 1 and five games below the Angels. At the end of April the Royals had a record of 11–8 (.579), but they had fallen two games behind the Angels who had finished the month with a six-game winning streak and had a 14–7 record.

The Royals began the month of May by losing seven of their first eight games, culminating in an 11–3 loss on May 11 at home to the New York Yankees. The team was three games below .500, in fourth place and 5½ games behind the Angels. Three days and three wins later, with a record of 15–15, the Royals would not drop below .500 at any time during the remainder of the season. (But they would have a .500 record as late as July 12 when they were 42–42.) With two 6-game winning streaks, the team won thirteen of their next seventeen games to enter a first place tie with the Angels on May 29, with a record of 25–19. This stretch of games was highlighted by three complete game shutouts pitched by Bret Saberhagen, Bud Black, and Charlie Leibrandt in which they allowed only a combined 8 hits and 4 walks. And despite being on the road, from May 15 through May 17, the three starters each threw a complete game and allowed a combined two earned runs (a 0.67 ERA), 14 hits, and just one walk.

The Royals struggled to make headway in the divisional race through June and into late July. Between May 30 and July 21 they were 21–25 and fell to 7½ games behind the Angels. With New York arriving in Kansas City to start a six-game home series on Monday, July 22, the Royals began a seven-game winning streak which was the longest in the season to that point. Dan Quisenberry picked up his 19th, 20th, and 21st saves as the Royals swept the Yankees, and he put in relief appearances in three of the next four games—picking up two more saves. On July 29, the Angels' lead had shrunk to 2½ games. They would remain there through September 1 as the Royals were 16–14 during that period and the Angels were 17–15.

The eight-game winning streak (all at home) between September 2 and 8 was the longest of the season for the Royals. The streak included three games in extra innings. After winning five of their next seven games, the Royals achieved a 2½ game lead over the Angels on September 15. However, the Mariners who had given them trouble earlier in the year—winning five of their six previous contests—shut out the Royals twice in a four-game sweep in Kansas City, dropping the Royals into a tie for first place on September 19. Winning just four of their next nine games, the Royals dropped a game behind the Angels on September 29.

After being swept at home in three games by the Twins and with only seven games remaining in the regular season, the Royals faced a four-game series at home versus the Angels. On September 30 the Royals won the first game 3–1 with Saberhagen pitching a complete game and giving up just one run on a home run by Doug DeCinces. Saberhagen collected ten strikeouts in the game and allowed only seven batters to reach first base. The Angels claimed the following game on October 1 by the score of 4–2 with Mike Witt pitching. The Royals won the third game on October 2 with Black pitching a complete game shut out and allowing only five batters to reach first base. Three of the four runs scored by the Royals came in the bottom of the first inning with no outs as George Brett hit an inside-the-park home run to center field with two runners on base. The final game of the series on October 3 was won 4–1 by the Royals with Quisenberry recording the final out of the game and his 36th save of the season. Starting pitcher Danny Jackson had given up just one run in 8⅔ innings despite allowing 11 hits. The Royals' runs came on three home runs by Frank White, Steve Balboni, and Brett. With the win, the Royals had a one-game lead on the Angels.

The Royals hosted the Athletics for the final three games of the season while the Angels traveled to Arlington Stadium to battle the Rangers. On October 4, the Royals defeated the Athletics by the score of 4–2, and the Angels were shut out 6–0 by the Rangers' starting pitcher Dave Schmidt. This gave the Royals a two-game lead and assured them of at least a tie for first. The division championship was claimed in a dramatic fashion on the following day as the Royals come from behind to defeat the Athletics in ten innings by the score of 5–4. The final game of the season on October 6 was a loss, and the Royals finished the season with a record of 91–71 (.562).

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	91	71	0.562	—	50–32	41–39
California Angels	90	72	0.556	1	49–30	41–42
Chicago White Sox	85	77	0.525	6	45–36	40–41
Minnesota Twins	77	85	0.475	14	49–35	28–50
Oakland Athletics	77	85	0.475	14	43–36	34–49
Seattle Mariners	74	88	0.457	17	42–41	32–47
Texas Rangers	62	99	0.385	28½	37–43	25–56

Record vs. opponents

1985 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	6–6	9–4	6–6	1–12	7–5	6–6	10–2	4–8
Boston	8–5	—	5–7	4–8–1	8–5	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–4
California	5–7	7–5	—	8–5	8–4	8–4	4–9	9–3	9–4	3–9	6–7	9–4	9–4	5–7
Chicago	4–8	8–4–1	5–8	—	10–2	6–6	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–6	8–5	9–4	10–3	3–9
Cleveland	5–8	5–8	4–8	2–10	—	5–8	2–10	7–6	4–8	6–7	3–9	6–6	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	7–6	4–8	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	9–4	3–9	9–3	8–4	5–7	7–5	6–7
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	10–2	7–5	—	8–4	7–6	5–7	8–5	3–10	6–7	7–5
Milwaukee	4–9	8–5	3–9	7–5	6–7	4–9	4–8	—	9–3	7–6	3–9	4–8	8–3	4–9
Minnesota	6–6	5–7	4–9	7–6	8–4	9–3	6–7	3–9	—	3–9	8–5	6–7	8–5	4–8
New York	12–1	8–5	9–3	6–6	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–7	9–3	—	7–5	9–3	8–4	6–7
Oakland	5–7	4–8	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	5–8	5–7	—	8–5	6–7	5–7
Seattle	6–6	6–6	4–9	4–9	6–6	7–5	10–3	8–4	7–6	3–9	5–8	—	6–7	2–10
Texas	2–10	7–5	4–9	3–10	5–7	5–7	7–6	3–8	5–8	4–8	7–6	7–6	—	3–9
Toronto	8–4	4–9	7–5	9–3	9–4	7–6	5–7	9–4	8–4	7–6	7–5	10–2	9–3	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1985: Brian McRae was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (17th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 1985.
• June 3, 1985: Deion Sanders was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 6th round of the 1985 amateur draft, but did not sign.

Roster

1985 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers 27 Joe Beckwith 40 Bud Black 26 Steve Farr 41 Tony Ferreira 23 Mark Gubicza 32 Larry Gura 38 Mark Huismann 25 Danny Jackson 17 Mike Jones 30 Mike LaCoss 37 Charlie Leibrandt 22 Dennis Leonard 29 Dan Quisenberry 31 Bret Saberhagen		Catchers  9 Jamie Quirk  8 Jim Sundberg 12 John Wathan Infielders 45 Steve Balboni  1 Buddy Biancalana  5 George Brett  2 Onix Concepción 61 Bob Hegman  4 Greg Pryor 16 Jim Scranton 20 Frank White		Outfielders  9 Dane Iorg 35 Lynn Jones 36 Dave Leeper 28 Omar Moreno 24 Darryl Motley 15 Pat Sheridan 21 Lonnie Smith  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 11 Hal McRae  3 Jorge Orta		Manager 10 Dick Howser Coaches 43 Gary Blaylock 41 Mike Ferraro 42 José Martínez 14 Lee May 44 Jimmie Schaffer

All-Stars

• Dick Howser, Manager
• George Brett, 3B

Postseason

ALCS

Main article: 1985 American League Championship Series

Game 1

Tuesday, October 8, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	1
Toronto	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	X	6	11	0
WP: Dave Stieb (1–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–1)

Game 2

Wednesday, October 9, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	10	3
Toronto	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	2	6	10	0
WP: Tom Henke (1–0)   LP: Dan Quisenberry (0–1) Home runs: KCR: Willie Wilson (1), Pat Sheridan (1) TOR: None

Game 3

Friday, October 11, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	5	13	1
Kansas City	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	1	X	6	10	1
WP: Steve Farr (1–0)   LP: Jim Clancy (0–1) Home runs: TOR: Rance Mulliniks (1), Jesse Barfield (1) KCR: George Brett 2 (2), Jim Sundberg (1)

Game 4

Saturday, October 12, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	7	0
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
WP: Tom Henke (2–0)   LP: Charlie Leibrandt (0–2)

Game 5

Sunday, October 13, 1985 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Kansas City	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	2	8	0
WP: Danny Jackson (1–0)   LP: Jimmy Key (0–1)

Game 6

Tuesday, October 15, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	1	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	5	8	1
Toronto	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	8	2
WP: Mark Gubicza (1–0)   LP: Doyle Alexander (0–1)   Sv: Dan Quisenberry (1) Home runs: KCR: George Brett (3) TOR: None

Game 7

Wednesday, October 16, 1985 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kansas City	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	6	8	0
Toronto	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	8	1
WP: Charlie Leibrandt (1–2)   LP: Dave Stieb (1–1) Home runs: KCR: Pat Sheridan (2) TOR: None

World Series

Main article: 1985 World Series

The Commissioner's Trophy at Kauffman Stadium.

Manager DIck Howser (to left of podium) presents President Ronald Reagan with a Royals jacket, hat, and bat at the White House.

With the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the National League Championship Series, the 1985 World Series was destined to become one of the most memorable series for the cross-state rivals. It was popularly known as the Show-Me Series (Missouri is "the Show-Me State") and the I-70 Series. The 1985 World Series was played by National League rules, with no designated hitter, so the Royals were without the regular services of one of their best players, Hal McRae.

As they had done in the ALCS, the Royals lost three of their first four games with the Cardinals. The key game in the Royals' comeback was Game 6, a game famous for a tremendous Kansas City comeback, unfortunately belittled in St. Louis as due to supposed umpire errors. A call in the 4th inning cost the Royals their closest scoring opportunity when Frank White was called out after stealing second, and appearing on replay to have been safe, and the next batter, Pat Sheridan, got a hit. Facing elimination, the Royals trailed 1–0 in the bottom of the ninth inning before rallying to score two runs and win. In what has been called "one of the most controversial and famous plays in Series history", Jorge Orta led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. Orta was later put out on the basepaths (the only out recorded in the inning), but Kansas City would go on to win as the Cardinals unravelled with a dropped pop up, a passed ball and poor pitching as the Royals capitalized on the opportunity. The Cardinals became completely undone in Game 7. The Royals' Bret Saberhagen pitched a five-hit shutout, allowing the Royals to win 11–0 and clinch the franchise's first World Series title as Cardinals' pitchers fell apart. AL Kansas City Royals (4) vs NL St. Louis Cardinals (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	St. Louis Cardinals – 3, Kansas City Royals – 1	October 19	Royals Stadium	41,650
2	St. Louis Cardinals – 4, Kansas City Royals – 2	October 20	Royals Stadium	41,656
3	Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1	October 22	Busch Stadium II	53,634
4	Kansas City Royals – 0, St. Louis Cardinals – 3	October 23	Busch Stadium II	53,634
5	Kansas City Royals – 6, St. Louis Cardinals – 1	October 24	Busch Stadium II	53,634
6	St. Louis Cardinals – 1, Kansas City Royals – 2	October 26	Royals Stadium	41,628
7	St. Louis Cardinals – 0, Kansas City Royals – 11	October 27	Royals Stadium	41,658

Free agents

After the season these players became free agents:

• Dane Iorg, signed with the San Diego Padres
• Lynn Jones, re-signed
• Hal McRae, re-signed
• Jamie Quirk, re-signed

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; SB = Stolen Bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	SB
C	Jim Sundberg	115	367	38	90	10	35	.245	0
1B	Steve Balboni	160	600	74	146	36	88	.243	1
2B	Frank White	149	563	62	140	22	69	.249	10
3B	George Brett	155	550	108	184	30	112	.335	9
SS	Onix Concepción	131	314	32	64	2	20	.204	4
LF	Lonnie Smith	120	448	77	115	6	41	.257	40
CF	Willie Wilson	141	605	87	168	4	43	.278	43
RF	Darryl Motley	123	383	45	85	17	49	.222	6
DH	Hal McRae	112	320	41	83	14	70	.259	0

Other batters

Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	SB
Buddy Biancalana	81	138	21	26	1	6	.188	1
Bob Hegman	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Dane Iorg	64	130	7	29	1	21	.223	0
Lynn Jones	110	152	12	32	0	9	.211	0
Omar Moreno	24	70	9	17	2	12	.243	0
Jorge Orta	110	300	32	80	4	45	.267	2
Greg Pryor	63	114	8	25	1	3	.219	0
Jamie Quirk	19	57	3	16	0	4	.281	0
Jim Scranton	6	4	1	0	0	0	.000	0
Pat Sheridan	78	206	18	47	3	17	.228	11
John Wathan	60	145	11	34	1	9	.234	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	SO	BB
Bud Black	33	33	205.7	10	15	4.33	122	59
Charlie Leibrandt	33	33	237.2	17	9	2.69	108	68
Bret Saberhagen	32	32	235.1	20	6	2.87	158	38
Danny Jackson	32	32	208.0	14	12	3.42	114	76
Mark Gubicza	29	28	177.1	14	10	4.06	99	77

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dan Quisenberry	84	0	8	9	37	2.37	54
Joe Beckwith	49	0	1	5	1	4.07	80
Mike Jones	33	1	3	3	0	4.78	32
Mike LaCoss	21	0	1	1	1	5.09	26
Steve Farr	16	3	2	1	1	3.11	36

Awards and honors

Cy Young Award 

Bret Saberhagen

Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award 

Dan Quisenberry

ALCS MVP 

George Brett

Gold Glove Award 

Third base—George Brett

Silver Slugger Award 

Third base—George Brett

Executive of the Year 

General Manager John Schuerholz

Records and milestones

Batting

Triples

• Willie Wilson set the Royals single season record with 21 triples.

Home runs

• Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 36 home runs.

Strikeouts

• Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 166 strikeouts.

Pitching

Games pitched

• Dan Quisenberry set the Royals single season record with 84 games pitched and finished the season with 444 on the all-time Royals list, passing Paul Splittorff (with 429) for first place.

Saves

• Dan Quisenberry, first on the all-time Royals list, finishes the season with 217.

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	Gene Lamont
AA	Memphis Chicks	Southern League	Tommy Jones
A	Fort Myers Royals	Florida State League	Duane Gustavson
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Frank Funk
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Joe Jones

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Fort Myers

References

• 1985 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

Notes: