# 1995 Kansas City Royals season

39°3′6.1″N 94°28′49.1″W﻿ / ﻿39.051694°N 94.480306°W﻿ / 39.051694; -94.480306
The 1995 Kansas City Royals season was the 27th season for the franchise, and their 23rd at Kauffman Stadium. During this season, the Royals finished second in the American League Central, with a record of 70 wins and 74 losses. This was the first of 17 losing seasons the Royals would suffer through 2012.
Although the 1995 Royals had a losing record and finished 30 games behind the Cleveland Indians, the second-place division finish in 1995 was the highest finish for the franchise in the American League Central from 1994, when the Royals joined that division, until the 2014 team also finished second and the 2015 team won the franchise's first Central Division championship.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cleveland Indians | 100 | 44 | .694 | — | 54‍–‍18 | 46‍–‍26 |
| Kansas City Royals | 70 | 74 | .486 | 30 | 35‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍37 |
| Chicago White Sox | 68 | 76 | .472 | 32 | 38‍–‍34 | 30‍–‍42 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 79 | .451 | 35 | 33‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍40 |
| Minnesota Twins | 56 | 88 | .389 | 44 | 29‍–‍43 | 27‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1995 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–1 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 11–3 | 5–3 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 5–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 3–4 | 8–5 |
| California | 4–9 | 3–11 | — | 10–2 | 3–2 | 6–2 | 5–7 | 5–2 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 8–2 |
| Chicago | 1–6 | 3–5 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 3–2–1 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–5 |
| Cleveland | 10–2 | 7–6 | 2–3 | 8–5 | — | 10–3 | 11–1 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 7–0 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 10–3 |
| Detroit | 5–8 | 5–8 | 2–6 | 4–8 | 3–10 | — | 3–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 2–3 | 5–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 |
| Kansas City | 5–4 | 2–3 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 4–3 | — | 10–2 | 6–7 | 3–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–6 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 5–7 | 4–8 | 2–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 2–10 | — | 9–4 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 3–2 | 5–7 | 7–5 |
| Minnesota | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 4–9 | — | 3–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 1–4 |
| New York | 7–6 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–3–1 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–3 | 6–5 | 4–3 | — | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–3 | 12–1 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 0–7 | 3–2 | 8–5 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | — | 7–6 | 5–8 | 3–7 |
| Seattle | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 4–5 | 5–5 | 5–7 | 2–3 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–7 | — | 10–3 | 3–4 |
| Texas | 1–4 | 4–3 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 8–4 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–5 | 3–10 | — | 9–3 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 5–8 | 2–8 | 5–6 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–1 | 1–12 | 7–3 | 4–3 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1995: Brian McRae was traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Chicago Cubs for Derek Wallace and Geno Morones (minors).
* April 6, 1995: David Cone was traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Chris Stynes, David Sinnes (minors), and Tony Medrano (minors).
* April 19, 1995: Félix José was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* April 25, 1995: Doug Linton was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* April 26, 1995: Vince Coleman signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* May 14, 1995: Félix José was released by the Kansas City Royals.
* June 29, 1995: Kevin Elster was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.
* July 3, 1995: Kevin Elster was released by the Kansas City Royals.
* August 15, 1995: Vince Coleman was traded by the Kansas City Royals to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later. The Seattle Mariners sent Jim Converse (August 18, 1995) to the Kansas City Royals to complete the trade.
* September 8, 1995: Juan Samuel was traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. The Kansas City Royals sent Phil Hiatt (September 14, 1995) to the Detroit Tigers to complete the trade.

### Roster
## 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 | Brent Mayne | 110 | 307 | 77 | .251 | 1 | 27 |
| 1B | Wally Joyner | 131 | 465 | 144 | .310 | 12 | 83 |
| 2B | Keith Lockhart | 94 | 274 | 88 | .321 | 6 | 33 |
| SS | Greg Gagne | 120 | 430 | 110 | .256 | 6 | 49 |
| 3B | Gary Gaetti | 137 | 514 | 134 | .261 | 35 | 96 |
| LF | Vince Coleman | 75 | 293 | 84 | .287 | 4 | 20 |
| CF | Tom Goodwin | 133 | 480 | 138 | .288 | 4 | 28 |
| RF | Jon Nunnally | 119 | 303 | 74 | .244 | 14 | 42 |
| DH | Bob Hamelin | 72 | 208 | 35 | .168 | 7 | 25 |

#### 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 |
| David Howard | 95 | 255 | 62 | .243 | 0 | 19 |
| Johnny Damon | 47 | 188 | 53 | .282 | 3 | 23 |
| Michael Tucker | 62 | 177 | 46 | .260 | 4 | 17 |
| Pat Borders | 52 | 143 | 33 | .231 | 4 | 13 |
| Joe Vitiello | 53 | 130 | 33 | .254 | 7 | 21 |
| Edgar Cáceres | 55 | 117 | 28 | .239 | 1 | 17 |
| Phil Hiatt | 52 | 113 | 23 | .204 | 4 | 12 |
| José Lind | 29 | 97 | 26 | .268 | 0 | 6 |
| Joe Randa | 34 | 70 | 12 | .171 | 1 | 5 |
| Chris James | 26 | 58 | 18 | .310 | 2 | 7 |
| Henry Mercedes | 23 | 43 | 11 | .256 | 0 | 9 |
| Les Norman | 24 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 0 | 4 |
| Jeff Grotewold | 15 | 36 | 10 | .278 | 1 | 6 |
| Chris Stynes | 22 | 35 | 6 | .171 | 0 | 2 |
| Brent Cookson | 22 | 35 | 5 | .143 | 0 | 5 |
| Juan Samuel | 15 | 34 | 6 | .176 | 2 | 5 |
| Félix José | 9 | 30 | 4 | .133 | 0 | 1 |
| Keith Miller | 9 | 15 | 5 | .333 | 1 | 3 |
| Russ McGinnis | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Sweeney | 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| José Mota | 2 | 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 |
| Mark Gubicza | 33 | 213.1 | 12 | 14 | 3.75 | 81 |
| Kevin Appier | 31 | 201.1 | 15 | 10 | 3.89 | 185 |
| Tom Gordon | 31 | 189.0 | 12 | 12 | 4.43 | 119 |
| Jason Jacome | 15 | 84.0 | 4 | 6 | 5.36 | 39 |
| Chris Haney | 16 | 81.1 | 3 | 4 | 3.65 | 31 |
| Tom Browning | 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 2 | 8.10 | 3 |
| Jim Pittsley | 1 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Melvin Bunch | 13 | 40.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.63 | 19 |
| Dave Fleming | 9 | 32.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.66 | 14 |
| Scott Anderson | 6 | 25.1 | 1 | 0 | 5.33 | 6 |
| Doug Linton | 7 | 22.1 | 0 | 1 | 7.25 | 13 |
| Dennis Rasmussen | 5 | 10.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Jeff Montgomery | 54 | 2 | 3 | 31 | 3.43 | 49 |
| Rusty Meacham | 49 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4.98 | 30 |
| Billy Brewer | 48 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5.56 | 31 |
| Hipólito Pichardo | 44 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 4.36 | 43 |
| Mike Magnante | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.23 | 28 |
| Dilson Torres | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.09 | 28 |
| Gregg Olson | 20 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.26 | 21 |
| Jim Converse | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.84 | 5 |
| Rick Huisman | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.45 | 12 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Mike Jirschele |
| AA | Wichita Wranglers | Texas League | Ron Johnson |
| A | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Carolina League | John Mizerock |
| A | Springfield Sultans | Midwest League | Brian Poldberg |
| A-Short Season | Spokane Indians | Northwest League | Al Pedrique |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Bob Herold |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Royals