1979 Kansas City Royals

85-77 • .525 Win% • 2nd in AL W

The 1979 Kansas City Royals went 85-77 (.525) finishing 2nd in the AL W division. The club scored 851 runs, allowed 816, and played home games at Royals Stadium. Team leaders included George Brett (23 HR, 107 RBI) and Paul Splittorff (15-17, 4.24 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

85 Wins
77 Losses
.525 Win %
2nd Rank
851 R 816 RA
Diff +35

📁 Franchise Info

Kansas City Royals Active
→

⚡ Quick Stats

851 Runs Scored
816 Runs Allowed
+35 Run Diff
2,261K Attendance

📈 vs. 1979 AL Average

Batting Avg .282 5% above the 1979 league average (.269)
OBP .343 3% above the 1979 league average (.334)
SLG .422 3% above the 1979 league average (.408)
Team ERA 4.45 6% worse than the 1979 league average (4.22)
Runs Scored 851 13% above the 1979 league average (752 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumKauffman Stadium
📅
Home Games 81
👥
Total Attendance 2,261,845
📊
Avg per Game 27,924

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1979

Batting Avg

1 George Brett 0.329 2 Willie Wilson 0.315 3 Jamie Quirk 0.304 4 Amos Otis 0.295 5 Al Cowens 0.295

Home Runs

1 George Brett 23 2 Darrell Porter 20 3 Amos Otis 18 4 Hal McRae 10 5 Frank White 10

RBI

1 Darrell Porter 112 2 George Brett 107 3 Amos Otis 90 4 Hal McRae 74 5 Al Cowens 73
1979 Kansas City Royals — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
George Brett 154 645 119 212 42 20 23 107 51 36 17 0.329
Willie Wilson 154 588 113 185 18 13 6 49 28 92 83 0.315
Amos Otis 151 577 100 170 28 2 18 90 68 92 30 0.295
Darrell Porter 157 533 101 155 23 10 20 112 121 65 3 0.291
Al Cowens 136 516 69 152 18 7 9 73 40 44 10 0.295
Frank White 127 467 73 124 26 4 10 48 25 54 28 0.266
Pete LaCock 132 408 54 113 25 4 3 56 37 26 2 0.277
Hal McRae 101 393 55 113 32 4 10 74 38 46 5 0.288
Freddie Patek 106 306 30 77 17 0 1 37 16 42 11 0.252
U. L. Washington 101 268 32 68 12 5 2 25 20 44 10 0.254
John Wathan 90 199 26 41 7 3 2 28 7 24 2 0.206
Clint Hurdle 59 171 16 41 10 3 3 30 28 24 0 0.240
George Scott 44 146 19 39 8 2 1 20 12 32 1 0.267
Todd Cruz 55 118 9 24 7 0 2 15 3 19 0 0.203
Steve Braun 58 116 15 31 2 0 4 10 22 11 0 0.267
Jamie Quirk 51 79 8 24 6 1 1 11 5 13 0 0.304
Jerry Terrell 31 40 5 12 3 0 1 2 1 1 1 0.300
Tom Poquette 21 26 1 5 0 0 0 3 1 4 0 0.192
Jim Nettles 11 23 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 0.087
Joe Zdeb 15 23 3 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 1 0.174
Jim Gaudet 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.167
German Barranca 5 5 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.600
Steve Busby 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Craig Chamberlain 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Gary Christenson 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Craig Eaton 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Rich Gale 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Larry Gura 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Al Hrabosky 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dennis Leonard 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Renie Martin 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Steve Mingori 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bill Paschall 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Marty Pattin 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Quisenberry 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Eduardo Rodriguez 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Paul Splittorff 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
George Throop 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1979

ERA

1 Dan Quisenberry 3.15 2 Steve Busby 3.63 3 Al Hrabosky 3.74 4 Craig Chamberlain 3.75 5 Dennis Leonard 4.08

Wins

1 Paul Splittorff 15 2 Dennis Leonard 14 3 Larry Gura 13 4 Rich Gale 9 5 Al Hrabosky 9

Strikeouts

1 Dennis Leonard 126 2 Rich Gale 103 3 Larry Gura 85 4 Paul Splittorff 77 5 Steve Busby 45
1979 Kansas City Royals — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Paul Splittorff 15 17 4.24 36 35 0 240.0 248 113 77 77
Dennis Leonard 14 12 4.08 32 32 0 236.0 226 107 56 126
Larry Gura 13 12 4.47 39 33 0 233.2 226 116 73 85
Rich Gale 9 10 5.65 34 31 0 181.2 197 114 99 103
Steve Busby 6 6 3.63 22 12 0 94.1 71 38 64 45
Marty Pattin 5 2 4.58 31 7 3 94.1 109 48 21 41
Eduardo Rodriguez 4 1 4.84 29 1 2 74.1 79 40 34 26
Craig Chamberlain 4 4 3.75 10 10 0 69.2 68 29 18 30
Al Hrabosky 9 4 3.74 58 0 11 65.0 67 27 41 39
Steve Mingori 3 3 5.79 30 1 1 46.2 69 30 17 18
Dan Quisenberry 3 2 3.15 32 0 5 40.0 42 14 7 13
Renie Martin 0 3 5.19 25 0 5 34.2 32 20 14 25
Bill Paschall 0 1 6.59 7 0 0 13.2 18 10 5 3
Gary Christenson 0 0 3.38 6 0 0 10.2 10 4 2 4
Craig Eaton 0 0 2.70 5 0 0 10.0 8 3 3 4
George Throop 0 0 13.50 4 0 0 2.2 7 4 5 1
Jerry Terrell 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0

👥 Roster (38)

German Barranca Steve Braun George Brett Steve Busby Craig Chamberlain Gary Christenson Al Cowens Todd Cruz Craig Eaton Rich Gale Jim Gaudet Larry Gura +26 more

38 players

📂 Quick Links

📅 1979 Season 🏠 All KCA Seasons

⏳ Browse Seasons

The 1979 Kansas City Royals in brief

In 1979 the Kansas City Royals posted a 85-77 mark (.525) and finished 2nd in the AL West. The Kansas City Royals scored 851 runs and allowed 816, a run differential of +35. The team batting average of .282 was 5% above the 1979 league mark of .269. The Kansas City Royals staff finished with a 4.45 ERA; the league as a whole was at 4.22. The 851 runs scored compare with a league average of 752 per club, 13% more.

Attendance at Royals Stadium totaled 2,261,845 for the year. George Brett led the club in home runs with 23. Darrell Porter led in RBI with 112. Paul Splittorff led the pitchers with 15 wins. The strikeout leader was Dennis Leonard with 126. Al Hrabosky closed out 11 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1979 Kansas City Royals

What was the 1979 Kansas City Royals record?
The 1979 Kansas City Royals finished 85-77 (.525 win pct).
Who led the 1979 Kansas City Royals in home runs?
George Brett led the 1979 Kansas City Royals with 23 home runs.
What was the 1979 Kansas City Royals team ERA?
The 1979 Kansas City Royals posted a team ERA of 4.45.
Did the 1979 Kansas City Royals win the World Series?
No. The 1979 Kansas City Royals did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1979 Kansas City Royals play?
The 1979 Kansas City Royals played home games at Royals Stadium.
Who led the 1979 Kansas City Royals in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were George Brett (23 HR, 107 RBI) and Paul Splittorff (15-17, 4.24 ERA).
All Seasons