1986 Kansas City Royals season

The 1986 Kansas City Royals season the 18th season in Royals franchise history, and they entered the season as the defending World Series champions. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.

1986 Kansas City Royals
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Record	76–86 (.469)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	John Schuerholz
Managers	Dick Howser (games 1-88) Mike Ferraro (interim, games 89-162)
Television	WDAF-TV (Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
Radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
← 1985 Seasons 1987 →

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	92	70	.568	—	50‍–‍32	42‍–‍38
Texas Rangers	87	75	.537	5	51‍–‍30	36‍–‍45
Kansas City Royals	76	86	.469	16	45‍–‍36	31‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics	76	86	.469	16	47‍–‍36	29‍–‍50
Chicago White Sox	72	90	.444	20	41‍–‍40	31‍–‍50
Minnesota Twins	71	91	.438	21	43‍–‍38	28‍–‍53
Seattle Mariners	67	95	.414	25	41‍–‍41	26‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1986 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	6–6	9–3	4–9	1–12	6–6	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–5
Boston	9–4	—	5–7	7–5	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	10–2	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–4	7–6
California	6–6	7–5	—	7–6	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	10–3	8–5	8–5	6–6
Chicago	3–9	5–7	6–7	—	5–7	6–6	7–6	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	2–11	6–6
Cleveland	9–4	3–10	6–6	7–5	—	4–9	8–4	8–5	6–6	5–8	10–2	9–3	6–6	3–10–1
Detroit	12–1	6–7	5–7	6–6	9–4	—	5–7	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	4–9
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	5–8	6–7	4–8	7–5	—	6–6	6–7	4–8	8–5	5–8	8–5	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	6–6	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
Minnesota	4–8	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	8–5	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–8	8–4	—	5–7	8–4	7–5	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	3–10	6–7	2–10	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–6	7–5	—	10–3	3–10	8–4
Seattle	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	3–9	6–6	8–5	6–6	7–6	4–8	3–10	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	7–5	4–8	5–8	11–2	6–6	5–7	5–8	8–4	7–6	5–7	10–3	9–4	—	5–7
Toronto	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–6	10–3–1	9–4	7–5	6–7	8–4	6–7	4–8	6–6	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• March 28, 1986: Joe Beckwith was released by the Kansas City Royals.^[1]
• May 21, 1986: Mark Huismann was traded by the Royals to the Seattle Mariners for Terry Bell.^[2]
• June 2, 1986: 1986 Major League Baseball draft
  • Bo Jackson was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round.^[3]
  • Torey Lovullo was drafted by the Royals in the 27th round, but did not sign.^[4]
• August 16, 1986: Jacob Brumfield was signed as a free agent by the Royals.^[5]

Notable events

• July 15, 1986: Dick Howser is relieved as Royals' manager after managing for the AL in the 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Howser admitted he felt sick before the game and was having trouble with signals during the game. He is later diagnosed with brain cancer and undergoes surgery. Mike Ferraro takes over as manager for the remainder of the season.

Roster

1986 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers 28 Scott Bankhead 40 Bud Black 13 David Cone 26 Steve Farr 23 Mark Gubicza 50 Alan Hargesheimer 38 Mark Huismann 25 Danny Jackson 37 Charlie Leibrandt 22 Dennis Leonard 29 Dan Quisenberry 31 Bret Saberhagen 38 Steve Shields		Catchers 34 Terry Bell  9 Jamie Quirk  8 Jim Sundberg Infielders 45 Steve Balboni  1 Buddy Biancalana  5 George Brett 36 Rondin Johnson 32 Bill Pecota  4 Greg Pryor  2 Ángel Salazar 33 Kevin Seitzer 20 Frank White		Outfielders 17 Mike Brewer 16 Bo Jackson 35 Lynn Jones 27 Mike Kingery  7 Rudy Law 24 Darryl Motley 21 Lonnie Smith 15 Dwight Taylor  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 11 Hal McRae  3 Jorge Orta		Manager 41 Mike Ferraro 10 Dick Howser Coaches 43 Gary Blaylock 41 Mike Ferraro 42 José Martínez 14 Lee May 44 Jimmie Schaffer

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
C	Jim Sundberg	140	429	91	.212	12	42
1B	Steve Balboni	138	512	117	.229	29	88
2B	Frank White	151	566	154	.272	22	84
SS	Ángel Salazar	117	298	73	.245	0	24
3B	George Brett	124	441	128	.290	16	73
LF	Lonnie Smith	134	508	146	.287	8	44
CF	Willie Wilson	156	631	170	.269	9	44
RF	Darryl Motley	72	217	44	.203	7	20
DH	Jorge Orta	106	336	93	.277	9	46

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
Rudy Law	87	307	80	.261	1	36
Hal McRae	112	278	70	.252	7	37
Jamie Quirk	80	219	47	.215	8	26
Mike Kingery	62	209	54	.258	3	14
Buddy Biancalana	100	190	46	.242	2	8
Greg Pryor	63	112	19	.170	0	7
Kevin Seitzer	28	96	31	.323	2	11
Bo Jackson	25	82	17	.207	2	9
Lynn Jones	67	47	6	.128	0	1
Rondin Johnson	11	31	8	.258	0	2
Bill Pecota	12	29	6	.207	0	2
Mike Brewer	12	18	3	.167	0	0
Terry Bell	8	3	0	.000	0	0
Dwight Taylor	4	2	0	.000	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
Charlie Leibrandt	35	231.1	14	11	4.09	108
Dennis Leonard	33	192.2	8	13	4.44	114
Danny Jackson	32	186.0	11	12	3.20	115
Mark Gubicza	35	180.2	12	6	3.64	118
Bret Saberhagen	30	156.0	7	12	4.15	112
Scott Bankhead	24	121.0	8	9	4.61	94

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
Alan Hargesheimer	5	13.0	0	1	6.23	4

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
Dan Quisenberry	62	3	7	12	2.77	36
Bud Black	56	5	10	9	3.20	68
Steve Farr	56	8	4	8	3.13	83
David Cone	11	0	0	0	5.56	21
Mark Huismann	10	0	1	1	4.15	13
Steve Shields	3	0	0	0	2.08	2

Awards and honors

• George Brett, Lou Gehrig Award
• Dennis Leonard, Hutch Award^[6]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Omaha Royals	American Association	John Boles and Frank Funk
AA	Memphis Chicks	Southern League	Tommy Jones
A	Fort Myers Royals	Florida State League	Duane Gustavson
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Ed Napoleon
Rookie	GCL Royals	Gulf Coast League	Luis Silverio

^[7]