# 1989 Kansas City Royals season

The 1989 Kansas City Royals season was the 21st season for the franchise, their 17th at Kauffman Stadium and their 3rd full season under the management of John Wathan. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. The Royals' record was tied for the third best in baseball, but in the pre-wild card era, the team did not qualify for the post-season.

## Offseason

* November 30, 1988: Bob Boone was signed as a free agent by the Royals.
* December 6, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.
* December 6, 1988: Mauro Gozzo was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals in the 1988 minor league draft.
* March 22, 1989: Daryl Smith was signed as a free agent by the Royals.

## Regular season

* May 15, 1989: Royals pitcher Floyd Bannister threw exactly three pitches and recorded three outs. This was accomplished in the second inning.
* June 5, 1989: Kansas City outfielder Bo Jackson made a spectacular defensive play in a game against the Seattle Mariners at the Kingdome. With the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th inning and Harold Reynolds on first, Scott Bradley lashed a double to deep left field. Reynolds, running with the pitch, thought he would easily score the winning run on the play, and was shocked when teammate Darnell Coles instructed him to slide. Jackson fielded Bradley's double and launched a flat-footed, 300-foot throw on the fly to Royals catcher Bob Boone, who tagged Reynolds out at the plate.
* During the season, Bret Saberhagen would be the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Royals in the 20th century.
* The last time the Royals will win at least 90 games until the 2015 season.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | 7 | 55‍–‍26 | 37‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 91 | 71 | .562 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 80 | 82 | .494 | 19 | 45‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 73 | 89 | .451 | 26 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 69 | 92 | .429 | 29½ | 35‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 5–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 3–10 | 1–11 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–8 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 2–11 | 1–11 | 8–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 2–11 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 6–6 | 2–11 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 |
| New York | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |

### Transactions

* June 5, 1989: Brent Mayne was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed June 16, 1989.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Bob Boone | 131 | 405 | 111 | .274 | 1 | 43 |
| 1B | George Brett | 124 | 457 | 129 | .282 | 12 | 80 |
| 2B | Frank White | 135 | 418 | 107 | .256 | 2 | 36 |
| 3B | Kevin Seitzer | 160 | 597 | 168 | .281 | 4 | 48 |
| SS | Kurt Stillwell | 130 | 463 | 121 | .261 | 7 | 54 |
| LF | Bo Jackson | 135 | 515 | 132 | .256 | 32 | 105 |
| CF | Willie Wilson | 112 | 383 | 97 | .253 | 3 | 43 |
| RF | Danny Tartabull | 133 | 441 | 118 | .268 | 18 | 62 |
| DH | Pat Tabler | 123 | 390 | 101 | .259 | 2 | 42 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Eisenreich | 134 | 475 | 139 | .293 | 9 | 59 |
| Brad Wellman | 103 | 178 | 41 | .230 | 2 | 12 |
| Bill Buckner | 79 | 176 | 38 | .216 | 1 | 16 |
| Mike Macfarlane | 69 | 157 | 35 | .223 | 2 | 19 |
| Matt Winters | 42 | 107 | 25 | .234 | 2 | 9 |
| Gary Thurman | 72 | 87 | 17 | .195 | 0 | 5 |
| Luis de los Santos | 28 | 87 | 22 | .253 | 0 | 6 |
| Bill Pecota | 65 | 83 | 17 | .205 | 3 | 5 |
| Rey Palacios | 55 | 47 | 8 | .170 | 1 | 8 |
| Jeff Schulz | 7 | 9 | 2 | .222 | 0 | 1 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Bret Saberhagen | 36 | 262.1 | 23 | 6 | 2.16 | 193 |
| Mark Gubicza | 36 | 255.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.04 | 173 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 33 | 161.0 | 5 | 11 | 5.14 | 73 |
| Floyd Bannister | 14 | 75.1 | 4 | 1 | 4.66 | 35 |
| Stan Clarke | 2 | 7.0 | 0 | 2 | 15.43 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Gordon | 49 | 163.0 | 17 | 9 | 3.64 | 153 |
| Luis Aquino | 34 | 141.1 | 6 | 8 | 3.50 | 68 |
| Larry McWilliams | 8 | 32.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.13 | 24 |
| Kevin Appier | 6 | 21.2 | 1 | 4 | 9.14 | 10 |
| José DeJesús | 3 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Jeff Montgomery | 63 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 1.37 | 94 |
| Steve Farr | 51 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 4.12 | 56 |
| Terry Leach | 30 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 4.15 | 34 |
| Steve Crawford | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.83 | 33 |
| Rick Luecken | 19 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3.42 | 16 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.65 | 9 |
| Bob Buchanan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16.20 | 3 |

## Awards and honors

* Bo Jackson, All-Star Game, American League, Starting Lineup
* Bo Jackson, MLB All-Star Game MVP
* Bret Saberhagen, Cy Young Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | Sal Rende |
| AA | Memphis Chicks | Southern League | Jeff Cox |
| 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 |