The 1988 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League West with a record of 84 wins and 77 losses.
| 1988 Kansas City Royals | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Royals Stadium | |
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |
| General managers | John Schuerholz | |
| Managers | John Wathan | |
| Television | WDAF-TV (Paul Splittorff, Denny Trease) | |
| Radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White) | |
| ||
Offseason
edit- November 6, 1987: Danny Jackson and Angel Salazar are traded by the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds for Kurt Stillwell and Ted Power.[1]
- December 10, 1987: Mélido Pérez, John Davis, Greg Hibbard, and Chuck Mount (minors) were traded by the Royals to the Chicago White Sox for Floyd Bannister and Dave Cochrane.[2]
Regular season
edit- On Opening Day, the Royals faced the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays' George Bell set a record for the most home runs hit on Opening Day with three.[3]
Season standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 54–27 | 50–31 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 | 47–34 | 44–37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | 44–36 | 40–41 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 35–46 | 40–41 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 32½ | 40–41 | 31–49 |
| Texas Rangers | 70 | 91 | .435 | 33½ | 38–43 | 32–48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 68 | 93 | .422 | 35½ | 37–44 | 31–49 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [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 | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |
Notable transactions
edit- May 13, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.[4]
- May 27, 1988: Steve Balboni was released by the Royals.[5]
- June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
- Bob Hamelin was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round. Player signed June 11, 1988.[6]
- Kerwin Moore was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round. Player signed June 3, 1988.[7]
- June 3, 1988: Bud Black was traded by the Royals to the Cleveland Indians for Pat Tabler.[8]
- August 31, 1988: Ted Power was traded by the Royals to the Detroit Tigers for Rey Palacios and Mark Lee.[9]
Roster
edit| 1988 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Game log
editRegular season
edit| 1988 regular season game log: 84–77 (Home: 44–36; Away: 40–44) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April: 12–10 (Home: 6–3; Away: 6–7)
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May: 11–17 (Home: 4–12; Away: 7–5)
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June: 17–10 (Home: 9–4; Away: 8–6)
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July: 12–15 (Home: 6–5; Away: 6–10)
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August: 18–10 (Home: 13–5; Away: 5–5)
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September: 16–12 (Home: 6–5; Away: 10–7)
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October: 0–2 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–0)
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| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Royals team member |
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: 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 | Mike Macfarlane | 70 | 211 | 56 | .265 | 4 | 26 |
| 1B | George Brett | 157 | 589 | 180 | .306 | 24 | 103 |
| 2B | Frank White | 150 | 537 | 126 | .235 | 8 | 58 |
| SS | Kurt Stillwell | 128 | 459 | 115 | .251 | 10 | 53 |
| 3B | Kevin Seitzer | 149 | 559 | 170 | .304 | 5 | 60 |
| LF | Bo Jackson | 124 | 439 | 108 | .246 | 25 | 68 |
| CF | Willie Wilson | 147 | 591 | 155 | .262 | 1 | 37 |
| RF | Danny Tartabull | 146 | 507 | 139 | .274 | 26 | 102 |
| DH | Bill Buckner | 89 | 242 | 62 | .256 | 3 | 34 |
Other batters
editNote: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Tabler | 89 | 301 | 93 | .309 | 1 | 49 |
| Jim Eisenreich | 82 | 202 | 44 | .218 | 1 | 19 |
| Jamie Quirk | 84 | 196 | 47 | .240 | 8 | 25 |
| Bill Pecota | 90 | 178 | 37 | .208 | 1 | 15 |
| Brad Wellman | 71 | 107 | 29 | .271 | 1 | 6 |
| Larry Owen | 37 | 81 | 17 | .210 | 1 | 3 |
| Gary Thurman | 35 | 66 | 11 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Balboni | 21 | 63 | 9 | .143 | 2 | 5 |
| Scotti Madison | 16 | 35 | 6 | .171 | 0 | 2 |
| Nick Capra | 14 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis de los Santos | 11 | 22 | 2 | .091 | 0 | 1 |
| Thad Bosley | 15 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Hearn | 7 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Rey Palacios | 5 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Owen | 7 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Gubicza | 35 | 269.2 | 20 | 8 | 2.70 | 183 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 35 | 260.2 | 14 | 16 | 3.80 | 171 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 35 | 243.0 | 13 | 12 | 3.19 | 125 |
| Floyd Bannister | 31 | 189.1 | 12 | 13 | 4.33 | 113 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Power | 22 | 80.1 | 5 | 6 | 5.94 | 44 |
| Rick Anderson | 7 | 34.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.24 | 9 |
| Luis Aquino | 7 | 29.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.79 | 11 |
| Tom Gordon | 5 | 15.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.17 | 18 |
| José DeJesús | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 | 2 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Farr | 62 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 2.50 | 72 |
| Jeff Montgomery | 45 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3.45 | 47 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 42 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3.55 | 29 |
| Gene Garber | 26 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 3.58 | 20 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.55 | 9 |
| Israel Sánchez | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4.54 | 14 |
| Bud Black | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.91 | 19 |
| Mark Lee | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 0 |
Awards and records
edit- George Brett, Silver Slugger Award
- Willie Wilson, American League Leader, Triples[10]
- Willie Wilson, Tied Sam Crawford's American League record, Leading AL in Triples five times[10]
Farm system
editReferences
edit- ^ "Kurt Stillwell Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Mélido Pérez at Baseball Reference
- ^ SI.com – Statitudes – Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers – Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
- ^ Bill Buckner at Baseball Reference
- ^ Steve Balboni at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bob Hamelin at Baseball Reference
- ^ Kerwin Moore at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bud Black at Baseball Reference
- ^ Mark Lee at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
- 1988 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1988 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac