# 1983 Kansas City Royals season

The 1983 Kansas City Royals season was their 15th in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished second in the American League West at 79–83, 20 games behind the Chicago White Sox. Dan Quisenberry's league-leading 45 saves also set a single-season franchise record.

## Offseason

* December 8, 1982: Tim Ireland was released by the Royals.
* February 5, 1983: Cecil Fielder was traded by the Royals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Leon Roberts.

## Regular season

* April 20, 1983: George Brett had 7 RBI in one game versus the Detroit Tigers.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago White Sox | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | 45‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Texas Rangers | 77 | 85 | .475 | 22 | 44‍–‍37 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Oakland Athletics | 74 | 88 | .457 | 25 | 42‍–‍39 | 32‍–‍49 |
| California Angels | 70 | 92 | .432 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Minnesota Twins | 70 | 92 | .432 | 29 | 37‍–‍44 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 60 | 102 | .370 | 39 | 30‍–‍51 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 11–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 3–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 5–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | — | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–5–1 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 2–11 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 4–9 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| New York | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 1–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8–1 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 4–8 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1983: Bombo Rivera was released by the Royals.
* July 6, 1983: Gaylord Perry was signed as a free agent by the Royals.
* July 22, 1983: Mélido Pérez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.
* August 2, 1983: Eric Rasmussen was purchased by the Royals from the St. Louis Cardinals.
* August 5, 1983: Vida Blue was released by the Royals.

### Pine Tar Game

The Pine Tar Game refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.
Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth and U L Washington on first base. In the on deck circle, George Brett was heard remarking to a teammate, "Watch this baby fly" as he shook his bat. He then came to the plate and connected off Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5-4 lead. As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin approached home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined. Earlier in the season, Martin and other members (most notably, third baseman Graig Nettles, who as a member of the Minnesota Twins, recalled a similar incident involving Thurman Munson) of the Yankees had noticed the amount of pine tar used by Brett, but Martin had chosen not to say anything until the home run.
With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew inspected the bat. Measuring the bat against the width of home plate (which is 17 inches), they determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball rule book, which read that "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches (460 mm) from the tip of the handle."

### 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 | 128 | 437 | 107 | .245 | 2 | 32 |
| 1B | Willie Aikens | 125 | 410 | 124 | .302 | 23 | 72 |
| 2B | Frank White | 146 | 549 | 143 | .260 | 11 | 77 |
| SS | UL Washington | 144 | 547 | 129 | .236 | 5 | 41 |
| 3B | George Brett | 123 | 464 | 144 | .310 | 25 | 93 |
| LF | Butch Davis | 33 | 122 | 42 | .344 | 2 | 18 |
| CF | Willie Wilson | 137 | 576 | 159 | .276 | 2 | 33 |
| RF | Amos Otis | 98 | 356 | 93 | .261 | 4 | 41 |
| DH | Hal McRae | 157 | 589 | 183 | .311 | 12 | 82 |

#### 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 |
| Pat Sheridan | 109 | 333 | 90 | .270 | 7 | 36 |
| Don Slaught | 83 | 276 | 86 | .312 | 0 | 28 |
| Onix Concepción | 80 | 219 | 53 | .242 | 0 | 20 |
| Leon Roberts | 84 | 213 | 55 | .258 | 8 | 24 |
| Joe Simpson | 89 | 119 | 20 | .168 | 0 | 8 |
| Greg Pryor | 68 | 115 | 25 | .217 | 1 | 14 |
| César Gerónimo | 38 | 87 | 18 | .207 | 0 | 4 |
| Darryl Motley | 19 | 68 | 16 | .235 | 3 | 11 |
| Jerry Martin | 13 | 44 | 14 | .318 | 2 | 13 |
| Cliff Pastornicky | 10 | 32 | 4 | .125 | 2 | 5 |
| Ron Johnson | 9 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 1 |
| Buddy Biancalana | 6 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 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 | 34 | 200.1 | 11 | 18 | 4.90 | 57 |
| Bud Black | 24 | 161.1 | 10 | 7 | 3.79 | 58 |
| Paul Splittorff | 27 | 156.0 | 13 | 8 | 3.63 | 61 |
| Gaylord Perry | 14 | 84.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.27 | 40 |
| Dennis Leonard | 10 | 63.0 | 6 | 3 | 3.71 | 31 |
| Eric Rasmussen | 11 | 52.2 | 3 | 6 | 4.78 | 18 |
| Frank Wills | 6 | 34.2 | 2 | 1 | 4.15 | 23 |
| Danny Jackson | 4 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.21 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Renko | 25 | 121.1 | 6 | 11 | 4.30 | 54 |
| Keith Creel | 25 | 89.1 | 2 | 5 | 6.35 | 31 |
| Vida Blue | 19 | 85.1 | 0 | 5 | 6.01 | 53 |

#### 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 | 69 | 5 | 3 | 45 | 1.94 | 48 |
| Mike Armstrong | 58 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3.86 | 52 |
| Don Hood | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.27 | 17 |
| Bill Castro | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6.64 | 17 |
| Mark Huismann | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.58 | 20 |
| Bob Tufts | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 3 |
| Joe Simpson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 |

## 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 |