# 1982 Kansas City Royals season

The 1982 Kansas City Royals season was their 14th in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 90–72, three games behind the California Angels in the first full season as manager for Dick Howser. Hal McRae led the team with 27 home runs and led the American League in runs batted in (133, a single-season franchise record) and doubles (46). Dan Quisenberry's 35 saves was also tops in the American League.

## Offseason

* October 23, 1981: Manny Castillo was traded by the Royals to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later. The Mariners completed the deal by sending Bud Black to the Royals on March 2, 1982.
* December 11, 1981: Clint Hurdle was traded by the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds for Scott Brown.
* December 11, 1981: Jerry Martin was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Kansas City Royals for Rich Gale and Bill Laskey.
* January 14, 1982: Ken Phelps was traded by the Royals to the Montreal Expos for Grant Jackson.
* February 18, 1982: Dennis Littlejohn was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Kansas City Royals for Jeff Cornell.
* March 23, 1982: Rance Mulliniks was traded by the Royals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Phil Huffman.
* March 30, 1982: Renie Martin, Craig Chamberlain, Atlee Hammaker, and Brad Wellman were traded by the Royals to the San Francisco Giants for Vida Blue and Bob Tufts.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| California Angels | 93 | 69 | .574 | — | 52‍–‍29 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Kansas City Royals | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3 | 56‍–‍25 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 6 | 49‍–‍31 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Seattle Mariners | 76 | 86 | .469 | 17 | 42‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Oakland Athletics | 68 | 94 | .420 | 25 | 36‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Texas Rangers | 64 | 98 | .395 | 29 | 38‍–‍43 | 26‍–‍55 |
| Minnesota Twins | 60 | 102 | .370 | 33 | 37‍–‍44 | 23‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1982 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 9–4–1 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 8–4 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 3–10 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 10–2 | 6–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9–1 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 10–3 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 2–10 | 3–10 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 2–11 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 10–2 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 10–3 | 5–7 | — | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | — | 9–4 | 7–5 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 2–10 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 4–9 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 3–10 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions
#### Draft picks

* June 7, 1982: 1982 Major League Baseball draft
** Will Clark was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round, but did not sign.
** Bret Saberhagen was drafted by the Royals in the 19th round. Player signed July 26, 1982.
** Andy Stankiewicz was drafted by the Royals in the 26th round, but did not sign.
** Cecil Fielder was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round of the Secondary Phase. Player signed June 15, 1982.

### 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 | John Wathan | 121 | 448 | 121 | .270 | 3 | 51 |
| 1B | Willie Aikens | 134 | 466 | 131 | .281 | 17 | 74 |
| 2B | Frank White | 145 | 524 | 156 | .298 | 11 | 56 |
| SS | U L Washington | 119 | 437 | 125 | .286 | 10 | 60 |
| 3B | George Brett | 144 | 552 | 166 | .301 | 21 | 82 |
| LF | Willie Wilson | 136 | 585 | 194 | .332 | 3 | 46 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 125 | 475 | 136 | .286 | 11 | 88 |
| RF | Jerry Martin | 147 | 519 | 138 | .266 | 15 | 65 |
| DH | Hal McRae | 159 | 613 | 189 | .308 | 27 | 133 |

#### 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 |
| Onix Concepción | 74 | 205 | 48 | .234 | 0 | 15 |
| Greg Pryor | 73 | 152 | 41 | .270 | 2 | 12 |
| Steve Hammond | 46 | 126 | 29 | .230 | 1 | 11 |
| César Gerónimo | 53 | 119 | 32 | .269 | 4 | 23 |
| Don Slaught | 43 | 115 | 32 | .278 | 3 | 8 |
| Lee May | 42 | 91 | 28 | .308 | 3 | 12 |
| Jamie Quirk | 36 | 78 | 18 | .231 | 1 | 5 |
| Tom Poquette | 24 | 62 | 9 | .145 | 0 | 3 |
| Dennis Werth | 41 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 2 |
| Ron Johnson | 8 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Ryal | 6 | 13 | 1 | .077 | 0 | 0 |
| Bombo Rivera | 5 | 10 | 1 | .100 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Ireland | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| Buddy Biancalana | 3 | 2 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Heath | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| Larry Gura | 37 | 248.0 | 18 | 12 | 4.03 | 98 |
| Vida Blue | 31 | 181.0 | 13 | 12 | 3.78 | 103 |
| Paul Splittorff | 29 | 162.0 | 10 | 10 | 4.28 | 74 |
| Dennis Leonard | 21 | 130.2 | 10 | 6 | 5.10 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Bud Black | 22 | 88.1 | 4 | 6 | 4.58 | 40 |
| Dave Frost | 21 | 81.2 | 6 | 6 | 5.51 | 26 |
| Bill Castro | 21 | 75.2 | 3 | 2 | 3.45 | 37 |
| Keith Creel | 9 | 41.2 | 1 | 4 | 5.40 | 13 |
| Derek Botelho | 8 | 24.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.13 | 12 |

#### 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 | 72 | 9 | 7 | 35 | 2.57 | 46 |
| Mike Armstrong | 52 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3.20 | 75 |
| Don Hood | 30 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3.51 | 31 |
| Grant Jackson | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5.17 | 15 |
| Bob Tufts | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4.50 | 13 |
| Jim Wright | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.32 | 9 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Joe Sparks |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Gene Lamont |
| A | Fort Myers Royals | Florida State League | Rick Mathews |
| A | Charleston Royals | South Atlantic League | Roy Tanner |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Joe Jones |
| Rookie | Butte Copper Kings | Pioneer League | Tommy Jones |