| 1990 Kansas City Royals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Royals Stadium | |||
| City | Kansas City, Missouri | |||
| Owners | Ewing Kauffman | |||
| General managers | John Schuerholz | |||
| Managers | John Wathan | |||
| Television | WDAF-TV (Paul Splittorff, Denny Trease) | |||
| Radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White) | |||
| ||||
The 1990 Kansas City Royals season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Royals finishing sixth in the American League West with a record of 75 wins and 86 losses.
Kansas City maintained their reputation as one of the American League West's top contenders throughout the late 1980s. The club posted a winning record in three of the last four seasons following their World Series championship season.[1] The Royals finished the 1989 season with a 92–70 record (third best record in franchise history) and a second-place finish in the AL West seven games behind the season's World Series champion Oakland Athletics.[1] Though the team boasted a powerhouse rotation in the AL Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen (set franchise record with 23 wins in 1989), two time All-Star Mark Gubicza (15 game winner in 1989) and 1989 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Tom Gordon (won 17 games in 1989),[2] the organization felt they were still missing a few pieces that would give the Oakland Athletics a run for their money.[3]
The Royals were left without a high-caliber closing pitcher when Dan Quisenberry, the team's All-Star ace closer for much of the 1980s, was dropped from the club in 1988. Mark Davis, last season's league leader in saves (44) and boasting a 1.85 earned run average with the San Diego Padres, became a free agent at the close of the 1989 season.[3] Kansas City had their eye on the 1989 National League Cy Young winner and back-to-back All-Star (1988, 1989), and after several attempts to acquire Davis, the organization was ultimately successful in signing him to a four-year $13 million contract (the largest annual salary in baseball history at the time).[4] Several days earlier, the Royals bulked up their rotation by inking starting pitcher Storm Davis, who was enjoying a career-high 19 game win record (3rd best in the league) with the Athletics in 1989, on a three-year $6 million contract.[4] With a solid pitching rotation, which was now ranked among the best in the league, the team traded away starting pitcher Charlie Leibrandt and prospect Rick Luecken to the Atlanta Braves for 1988 All-Star first baseman Gerald Perry as an added offensive threat.[2] The Royals filled in their fifth starting pitching slot by signing yet another free agent with veteran right-hander Richard Dotson.[2] Kansas City concluded a milestone off-season as its biggest commitment to free agents in the club's entire history.[2]
With the Royals pitching combined with offensive talent the likes of future Hall of Famer George Brett, Bo Jackson (1989 All-Star), Kevin Seitzer (1987 MLB hits league leader), Kurt Stillwell (1988 All-Star), Danny Tartabull and Bob Boone, preseason writers predicted Kansas City as the shoo-in for the 1990 AL West title.[3]
Despite the promising off-season moves, the team suffered critical bullpen injuries while the newly signed Davis hurlers both experienced lackluster performances throughout the season.[3] The Royals concluded the 1990 campaign with a 75-86 finish and second-to-last place standing in the AL West (worst franchise record since 1970).[1] Though the team would bounce back with winning records during the next several years, the disastrous season would symbolically come to mark the beginning of the end of Kansas City's relevance in professional baseball.[3]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 51–30 | 52–29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 9 | 49–31 | 45–37 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 47–35 | 36–44 |
| California Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 23 | 42–39 | 38–43 |
| Seattle Mariners | 77 | 85 | .475 | 26 | 38–43 | 39–42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 27½ | 45–36 | 30–50 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 88 | .457 | 29 | 41–40 | 33–48 |
|
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |
| 1990 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
| = Indicates league leader |
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 | 124 | 400 | 102 | .255 | 6 | 58 |
| 1B | George Brett | 142 | 544 | 179 | .329 | 14 | 87 |
| 2B | Frank White | 82 | 241 | 52 | .216 | 2 | 21 |
| 3B | Kevin Seitzer | 158 | 622 | 171 | .275 | 6 | 38 |
| SS | Kurt Stillwell | 144 | 506 | 126 | .249 | 3 | 51 |
| LF | Jim Eisenreich | 142 | 496 | 139 | .280 | 5 | 51 |
| CF | Bo Jackson | 111 | 405 | 110 | .272 | 28 | 78 |
| RF | Danny Tartabull | 88 | 313 | 84 | .268 | 15 | 60 |
| DH | Gerald Perry | 133 | 465 | 118 | .254 | 8 | 57 |
Note: G = Games pitched; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Wilson | 115 | 307 | 89 | .290 | 2 | 42 |
| Bill Pecota | 87 | 240 | 58 | .242 | 5 | 20 |
| Pat Tabler | 75 | 195 | 53 | .272 | 1 | 19 |
| Brian McRae | 46 | 168 | 48 | .286 | 2 | 23 |
| Bob Boone | 40 | 117 | 28 | .239 | 0 | 9 |
| Steve Jeltz | 74 | 103 | 16 | .155 | 0 | 10 |
| Terry Shumpert | 32 | 91 | 25 | .275 | 0 | 8 |
| Jeff Schulz | 30 | 66 | 17 | .258 | 0 | 6 |
| Gary Thurman | 23 | 60 | 14 | .233 | 0 | 3 |
| Rey Palacios | 41 | 56 | 13 | .232 | 2 | 9 |
| Russ Morman | 12 | 37 | 10 | .270 | 1 | 3 |
| Sean Berry | 8 | 23 | 5 | .217 | 0 | 4 |
| Jeff Conine | 9 | 20 | 5 | .250 | 0 | 2 |
| Brent Mayne | 5 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
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 | 32 | 195.1 | 12 | 11 | 3.73 | 175 |
| Kevin Appier | 32 | 185.2 | 12 | 8 | 2.76 | 127 |
| Bret Saberhagen | 20 | 135.0 | 5 | 9 | 3.27 | 87 |
| Storm Davis | 21 | 112.0 | 7 | 10 | 4.74 | 62 |
| Mark Gubicza | 16 | 94.0 | 4 | 7 | 4.50 | 71 |
| Héctor Wagner | 5 | 23.1 | 0 | 2 | 8.10 | 14 |
| Jim Campbell | 2 | 9.2 | 1 | 0 | 8.38 | 2 |
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 Farr | 57 | 127.0 | 13 | 7 | 1.98 | 94 |
| Andy McGaffigan | 24 | 78.2 | 4 | 3 | 3.09 | 49 |
| Luis Aquino | 20 | 68.1 | 4 | 1 | 3.16 | 28 |
| Pete Filson | 8 | 35.0 | 0 | 4 | 5.91 | 9 |
| Mel Stottlemyre Jr. | 13 | 31.1 | 0 | 1 | 4.88 | 14 |
| Richard Dotson | 8 | 28.2 | 0 | 4 | 8.48 | 9 |
| Chris Codiroli | 6 | 10.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.58 | 8 |
| Daryl Smith | 2 | 6.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.05 | 6 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Montgomery | 73 | 6 | 5 | 24 | 2.39 | 94 |
| Mark Davis | 53 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 5.11 | 73 |
| Steve Crawford | 46 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4.16 | 54 |
| Larry McWilliams | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.72 | 7 |
| Israel Sánchez | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.38 | 5 |
| Luis Encarnación | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.84 | 8 |
| Carlos Maldonado | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 9 |
| Jay Baller | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15.43 | 1 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha, Memphis[14]
|
1990 MLB season by team
| |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
