# 1970 Kansas City Royals season

The 1970 Kansas City Royals season was their second in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished tied for fourth place with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League West with a record of 65–97, 33 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins. Charlie Metro took over as manager when Joe Gordon resigned after the Royals' initial season, but was replaced by Bob Lemon following a 19–33 start. Bob Oliver hit a team-high 27 home runs, becoming the first Royals player to hit 20 or more home runs in a season.

## Offseason

* December 3, 1969: Joe Foy was traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Amos Otis and Bob Johnson.
* January 17, 1970: Greg Minton was drafted by the Royals in the third round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Oakland Athletics | 89 | 73 | .549 | 9 | 49‍–‍32 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 43‍–‍38 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Kansas City Royals | 65 | 97 | .401 | 33 | 35‍–‍44 | 30‍–‍53 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 65 | 97 | .401 | 33 | 38‍–‍42 | 27‍–‍55 |
| Chicago White Sox | 56 | 106 | .346 | 42 | 31‍–‍53 | 25‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 13–5 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 14–4 | 11–7 | 12–0 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Boston | 5–13 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 12–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 2–16 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 4–14 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 11–7 |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 9–9 |
| Kansas City | 0–12 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 12–6 | 5–13 | 1–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Milwaukee | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 3–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 |
| Minnesota | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 | 13–5 | 6–6 |
| New York | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 9–3–1 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 16–2 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 |
| Washington | 6–12 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 2–10 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 28, 1970: Mike Fiore was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Tom Matchick.

### 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 | Ed Kirkpatrick | 134 | 424 | 97 | .229 | 18 | 62 |
| 1B | Bob Oliver | 160 | 612 | 159 | .260 | 27 | 99 |
| 2B | Cookie Rojas | 98 | 384 | 100 | .260 | 2 | 28 |
| SS | Jackie Hernández | 83 | 238 | 55 | .231 | 2 | 10 |
| 3B | Paul Schaal | 124 | 380 | 102 | .268 | 5 | 35 |
| LF | Lou Piniella | 144 | 542 | 163 | .301 | 11 | 88 |
| CF | Amos Otis | 159 | 620 | 176 | .284 | 11 | 58 |
| RF | Pat Kelly | 136 | 452 | 106 | .235 | 6 | 38 |

#### 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 |
| Rich Severson | 77 | 240 | 60 | .250 | 1 | 22 |
| Ellie Rodríguez | 80 | 231 | 52 | .225 | 1 | 15 |
| Joe Keough | 57 | 183 | 59 | .322 | 4 | 21 |
| Tom Matchick | 55 | 158 | 31 | .196 | 0 | 11 |
| Billy Sorrell | 57 | 135 | 36 | .267 | 4 | 14 |
| George Spriggs | 51 | 130 | 27 | .208 | 1 | 7 |
| Luis Alcaraz | 35 | 120 | 20 | .167 | 1 | 14 |
| Mike Fiore | 25 | 72 | 13 | .181 | 0 | 4 |
| Hawk Taylor | 57 | 55 | 9 | .164 | 0 | 6 |
| Jim Campanis | 31 | 54 | 7 | .130 | 2 | 2 |
| Bobby Floyd | 14 | 43 | 14 | .326 | 0 | 9 |
| Jerry Adair | 7 | 27 | 4 | .148 | 0 | 1 |
| Buck Martinez | 6 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 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 |
| Dick Drago | 35 | 240.0 | 9 | 15 | 3.75 | 127 |
| Jim Rooker | 38 | 203.2 | 10 | 15 | 3.54 | 117 |
| Bill Butler | 25 | 140.2 | 4 | 12 | 3.77 | 75 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Johnson | 40 | 214.0 | 8 | 13 | 3.07 | 206 |
| Wally Bunker | 24 | 121.2 | 2 | 11 | 4.22 | 59 |
| Dave Morehead | 28 | 121.2 | 3 | 5 | 3.62 | 69 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 43 | 117.2 | 8 | 5 | 4.44 | 47 |
| Don O'Riley | 9 | 23.1 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 13 |
| Roger Nelson | 4 | 9.0 | 0 | 2 | 10.00 | 3 |
| Paul Splittorff | 2 | 8.2 | 0 | 1 | 7.27 | 10 |

#### 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 | 36 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 2.59 | 49 |
| Ken Wright | 47 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5.23 | 30 |
| Tom Burgmeier | 41 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3.16 | 43 |
| Moe Drabowsky | 24 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3.28 | 38 |
| Aurelio Monteagudo | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.96 | 18 |
| Mike Hedlund | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7.20 | 5 |
| Jim York | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 | 6 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Jack McKeon |
| AA | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Harry Malmberg |
| A | San Jose Bees | California League | Buddy Peterson |
| A | Waterloo Hawks | Midwest League | Steve Boros |
| Rookie | Kingsport Royals | Appalachian League | Owen Friend |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Dave Pavlesic |