# 1971 Kansas City Royals season

The 1971 season was the Kansas City Royals' third in Major League Baseball. The Royals had the first winning season (85–76) in franchise history, good enough for second place in the American League West and 16 games behind the Oakland Athletics. Kansas City earning a winning record in its third season was the second fastest of any expansion club in Major League Baseball history up to that point, the 1962 Los Angeles Angels achieved a winning record in their second season. The record would stand until the 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks won the National League West title in their second season.
By comparison, none of the Royals' expansion brethren--the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres--enjoyed a winning season prior to 1978.

## Offseason

* February 2, 1971: Ellie Rodríguez was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Carl Taylor.
* Prior to 1971 season: Gary Lance was signed as an amateur free agent by the Royals.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 101 | 60 | .627 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 55‍–‍25 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 76 | .528 | 16 | 44‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍39 |
| Chicago White Sox | 79 | 83 | .488 | 22½ | 39‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 76 | 86 | .469 | 25½ | 35‍–‍46 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 86 | .463 | 26½ | 37‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 69 | 92 | .429 | 32 | 34‍–‍48 | 35‍–‍44 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 9–9 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 6–5 | 9–3 | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 13–3 |
| Boston | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 10–2 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 1–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 12–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–2 |
| Cleveland | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| Detroit | 10–8 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–6 | — | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 14–4 |
| Kansas City | 5–6 | 11–1 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 10–2 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 5–13 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 3–9 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 10–8 | — | 10–7 | 2–10 | 3–15 | 6–6 |
| Minnesota | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–10 | — | 8–4 | 8–10 | 5–6 |
| New York | 7–11 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 4–8 | — | 5–7 | 7–11 |
| Oakland | 4–7 | 9–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 15–3 | 10–8 | 7–5 | — | 9–3 |
| Washington | 3–13 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 11–7 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 11, 1971: Tom Matchick was traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Savage.
* June 8, 1971: George Brett was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.

### 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 | Jerry May | 71 | 218 | 55 | .252 | 1 | 24 |
| 1B | Gail Hopkins | 103 | 295 | 82 | .278 | 9 | 47 |
| 2B | Cookie Rojas | 115 | 414 | 124 | .300 | 6 | 59 |
| SS | Freddie Patek | 147 | 591 | 158 | .267 | 6 | 36 |
| 3B | Paul Schaal | 161 | 548 | 150 | .274 | 11 | 63 |
| LF | Lou Piniella | 126 | 448 | 125 | .279 | 3 | 51 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 147 | 555 | 167 | .301 | 15 | 79 |
| RF | Joe Keough | 110 | 351 | 87 | .248 | 3 | 30 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Oliver | 128 | 373 | 91 | .244 | 8 | 52 |
| Ed Kirkpatrick | 120 | 365 | 80 | .219 | 9 | 46 |
| Bobby Knoop | 72 | 161 | 33 | .205 | 1 | 11 |
| Dennis Paepke | 60 | 152 | 31 | .204 | 2 | 14 |
| Chuck Harrison | 49 | 143 | 31 | .217 | 2 | 21 |
| Bobby Floyd | 31 | 66 | 10 | .152 | 0 | 2 |
| Sandy Valdespino | 18 | 63 | 20 | .317 | 2 | 15 |
| Buck Martinez | 22 | 46 | 7 | .152 | 0 | 1 |
| Carl Taylor | 20 | 39 | 7 | .179 | 0 | 3 |
| Rich Severson | 16 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 0 | 1 |
| Ted Savage | 19 | 29 | 5 | .172 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Dick Drago | 35 | 241.1 | 17 | 11 | 2.98 | 109 |
| Mike Hedlund | 32 | 205.2 | 15 | 8 | 2.71 | 76 |
| Paul Splittorff | 22 | 144.1 | 8 | 9 | 2.68 | 80 |
| Bruce Dal Canton | 25 | 141.1 | 8 | 6 | 3.44 | 58 |
| Wally Bunker | 7 | 32.1 | 2 | 3 | 5.01 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 36 | 127.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.17 | 53 |
| Ken Wright | 21 | 78.0 | 3 | 6 | 3.69 | 56 |
| Jim Rooker | 20 | 54.0 | 2 | 7 | 5.33 | 31 |
| Bill Butler | 14 | 44.1 | 1 | 2 | 3.45 | 32 |
| Lance Clemons | 10 | 24.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.12 | 20 |
| Monty Montgomery | 3 | 21.1 | 3 | 0 | 2.11 | 12 |
| Mike McCormick | 4 | 9.2 | 0 | 0 | 9.31 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Ted Abernathy | 63 | 4 | 6 | 23 | 2.56 | 55 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 67 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 1.73 | 44 |
| Jim York | 53 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2.89 | 103 |
| Roger Nelson | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.29 | 29 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Jack McKeon |
| AA | Elmira Royals | Eastern League | Harry Malmberg |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Buddy Peterson |
| A | Waterloo Royals | Midwest League | Steve Boros |
| Rookie | Kingsport Royals | Appalachian League | Owen Friend |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Buzzy Keller |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Gary Blaylock |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Elmira, GCL Royals