# 1988 Kansas City Royals season

The 1988 Kansas City Royals season was the 20th season for the franchise, their 16th at Kauffman Stadium and their 2nd full season under the management of John Wathan. The Royals improved on their 83–79 record from 1987 and finished third in the American League West with an 84–77 record, However, they were eliminated from postseason contention for the 3rd consecutive season.

## Offseason

* November 6, 1987: Danny Jackson and Angel Salazar are traded by the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds for Kurt Stillwell and Ted Power.
* December 10, 1987: Mélido Pérez, John Davis, Greg Hibbard, and Chuck Mount (minors) were traded by the Royals to the Chicago White Sox for Floyd Bannister and Dave Cochrane.

## Regular season

* On Opening Day, the Royals faced the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays' George Bell set a record for the most home runs hit on Opening Day with three.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 | 47‍–‍34 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | 44‍–‍36 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 32½ | 40‍–‍41 | 31‍–‍49 |
| Texas Rangers | 70 | 91 | .435 | 33½ | 38‍–‍43 | 32‍–‍48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 68 | 93 | .422 | 35½ | 37‍–‍44 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 13, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.
* May 27, 1988: Steve Balboni was released by the Royals.
* June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
** Bob Hamelin was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round. Player signed June 11, 1988.
** Kerwin Moore was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round. Player signed June 3, 1988.
* June 3, 1988: Bud Black was traded by the Royals to the Cleveland Indians for Pat Tabler.
* August 31, 1988: Ted Power was traded by the Royals to the Detroit Tigers for Rey Palacios and Mark Lee.

### Roster
## Game log
### Regular season

1988 regular season game log: 84–77 (Home: 44–36; Away: 40–44) :
April: 12–10 (Home: 6–3; Away: 6–7)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
May: 11–17 (Home: 4–12; Away: 7–5)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
June: 17–10 (Home: 9–4; Away: 8–6)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
July: 12–15 (Home: 6–5; Away: 6–10)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
August: 18–10 (Home: 13–5; Away: 5–5)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
September: 16–12 (Home: 6–5; Away: 10–7)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
October: 0–2 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–0)
#DateTime (CT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Royals team member :

## 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 | Mike Macfarlane | 70 | 211 | 56 | .265 | 4 | 26 |
| 1B | George Brett | 157 | 589 | 180 | .306 | 24 | 103 |
| 2B | Frank White | 150 | 537 | 126 | .235 | 8 | 58 |
| SS | Kurt Stillwell | 128 | 459 | 115 | .251 | 10 | 53 |
| 3B | Kevin Seitzer | 149 | 559 | 170 | .304 | 5 | 60 |
| LF | Bo Jackson | 124 | 439 | 108 | .246 | 25 | 68 |
| CF | Willie Wilson | 147 | 591 | 155 | .262 | 1 | 37 |
| RF | Danny Tartabull | 146 | 507 | 139 | .274 | 26 | 102 |
| DH | Bill Buckner | 89 | 242 | 62 | .256 | 3 | 34 |

#### 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 Tabler | 89 | 301 | 93 | .309 | 1 | 49 |
| Jim Eisenreich | 82 | 202 | 44 | .218 | 1 | 19 |
| Jamie Quirk | 84 | 196 | 47 | .240 | 8 | 25 |
| Bill Pecota | 90 | 178 | 37 | .208 | 1 | 15 |
| Brad Wellman | 71 | 107 | 29 | .271 | 1 | 6 |
| Larry Owen | 37 | 81 | 17 | .210 | 1 | 3 |
| Gary Thurman | 35 | 66 | 11 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Balboni | 21 | 63 | 9 | .143 | 2 | 5 |
| Scotti Madison | 16 | 35 | 6 | .171 | 0 | 2 |
| Nick Capra | 14 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis de los Santos | 11 | 22 | 2 | .091 | 0 | 1 |
| Thad Bosley | 15 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Hearn | 7 | 18 | 4 | .222 | 0 | 1 |
| Rey Palacios | 5 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Owen | 7 | 5 | 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 | 35 | 269.2 | 20 | 8 | 2.70 | 183 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 35 | 260.2 | 14 | 16 | 3.80 | 171 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 35 | 243.0 | 13 | 12 | 3.19 | 125 |
| Floyd Bannister | 31 | 189.1 | 12 | 13 | 4.33 | 113 |

#### 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 |
| Ted Power | 22 | 80.1 | 5 | 6 | 5.94 | 44 |
| Rick Anderson | 7 | 34.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.24 | 9 |
| Luis Aquino | 7 | 29.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.79 | 11 |
| Tom Gordon | 5 | 15.2 | 0 | 2 | 5.17 | 18 |
| José DeJesús | 2 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 | 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 |
| Steve Farr | 62 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 2.50 | 72 |
| Jeff Montgomery | 45 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3.45 | 47 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 42 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3.55 | 29 |
| Gene Garber | 26 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 3.58 | 20 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.55 | 9 |
| Israel Sánchez | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4.54 | 14 |
| Bud Black | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.91 | 19 |
| Mark Lee | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* George Brett, Silver Slugger Award
* Willie Wilson, American League Leader, Triples
* Willie Wilson, Tied Sam Crawford's American League record, Leading AL in Triples five times

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Glenn Ezell |
| AA | Memphis Chicks | Southern League | Sal Rende |
| A | Baseball City Royals | Florida State League | Luis Silverio |
| A | Appleton Foxes | Midwest League | Brian Poldberg |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | P. K. Kirsch |
| Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | Carlos Tosca |