1981 Kansas City Royals

50-53 • .485 Win% • 4th in AL W

The 1981 Kansas City Royals went 50-53 (.485) finishing 4th in the AL W division. They won their division. The club scored 397 runs, allowed 405, and played home games at Royals Stadium. Team leaders included Willie Aikens (17 HR, 53 RBI) and Dennis Leonard (13-11, 2.99 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

50 Wins
53 Losses
.485 Win %
4th Rank
397 R 405 RA
Diff -8

📁 Franchise Info

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⚡ Quick Stats

397 Runs Scored
405 Runs Allowed
-8 Run Diff
1,279K Attendance

📈 vs. 1981 AL Average

Batting Avg .267 4% above the 1981 league average (.256)
OBP .324 1% above the 1981 league average (.320)
SLG .382 3% above the 1981 league average (.372)
Team ERA 3.56 3% better than the 1981 league average (3.66)
Runs Scored 397 9% below the 1981 league average (437 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumKauffman Stadium
📅
Home Games 47
👥
Total Attendance 1,279,440
📊
Avg per Game 27,222

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1981

Batting Avg

1 Clint Hurdle 0.329 2 George Brett 0.314 3 Jerry Grote 0.304 4 Willie Wilson 0.303 5 Lee May 0.291

Home Runs

1 Willie Aikens 17 2 Amos Otis 9 3 Frank White 9 4 Hal McRae 7 5 George Brett 6

RBI

1 Amos Otis 57 2 Willie Aikens 53 3 George Brett 43 4 Frank White 38 5 Hal McRae 36
1981 Kansas City Royals — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Willie Wilson 102 439 54 133 10 7 1 32 18 42 34 0.303
Hal McRae 101 389 38 106 23 2 7 36 34 33 3 0.272
Amos Otis 99 372 49 100 22 3 9 57 31 59 16 0.269
Frank White 94 364 35 91 17 1 9 38 19 50 4 0.250
Willie Aikens 101 349 45 93 16 0 17 53 62 47 0 0.266
George Brett 89 347 42 109 27 7 6 43 27 23 14 0.314
U. L. Washington 98 339 40 77 19 1 2 29 41 43 10 0.227
John Wathan 89 301 24 76 9 3 1 19 19 23 11 0.252
Darryl Motley 42 125 15 29 4 0 2 8 7 15 1 0.232
Cesar Geronimo 59 118 14 29 0 2 2 13 11 16 6 0.246
Jamie Quirk 46 100 8 25 7 0 0 10 6 17 0 0.250
Clint Hurdle 28 76 12 25 3 1 4 15 13 10 0 0.329
Jerry Grote 22 56 4 17 3 1 1 9 3 2 1 0.304
Lee May 26 55 3 16 3 0 0 8 3 14 0 0.291
Dave Chalk 27 49 2 11 3 0 0 5 4 2 0 0.224
Rance Mulliniks 24 44 6 10 3 0 0 5 2 7 0 0.227
Ken Phelps 21 22 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 13 0 0.136
Danny Garcia 12 14 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.143
Pat Sheridan 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000
Juan Berenguer 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Ken Brett 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Onix Concepcion 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Rich Gale 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Larry Gura 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Atlee Hammaker 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Tim Ireland 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Mike Jones 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Greg Keatley 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dennis Leonard 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Renie Martin 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Bill Paschall 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dan Quisenberry 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jeff Schattinger 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Paul Splittorff 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jim Wright 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1981

ERA

1 Dan Quisenberry 1.73 2 Larry Gura 2.72 3 Renie Martin 2.77 4 Dennis Leonard 2.99 5 Mike Jones 3.21

Wins

1 Dennis Leonard 13 2 Larry Gura 11 3 Rich Gale 6 4 Mike Jones 6 5 Paul Splittorff 5

Strikeouts

1 Dennis Leonard 107 2 Larry Gura 61 3 Paul Splittorff 48 4 Rich Gale 47 5 Mike Jones 29
1981 Kansas City Royals — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Dennis Leonard 13 11 2.99 26 26 0 201.2 202 67 41 107
Larry Gura 11 8 2.72 23 23 0 172.1 139 52 35 61
Rich Gale 6 6 5.40 19 15 0 101.2 107 61 38 47
Paul Splittorff 5 5 4.36 21 15 0 99.0 111 48 23 48
Mike Jones 6 3 3.21 12 11 0 75.2 74 27 28 29
Dan Quisenberry 1 4 1.73 40 0 18 62.1 59 12 15 20
Renie Martin 4 5 2.77 29 0 4 61.2 55 19 29 25
Jim Wright 2 3 3.46 17 4 0 52.0 57 20 21 27
Atlee Hammaker 1 3 5.54 10 6 0 39.0 44 24 12 11
Ken Brett 1 1 4.18 22 0 2 32.1 35 15 14 7
Juan Berenguer 0 4 8.69 8 3 0 19.2 22 19 16 20
Jeff Schattinger 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 3.0 2 0 1 1
Bill Paschall 0 0 4.50 2 0 0 2.0 2 1 0 1

🏆 Postseason Results

AWDIV
Lost to OAK 3-0

👥 Roster (35)

Willie Aikens Juan Berenguer George Brett Ken Brett Dave Chalk Onix Concepcion Rich Gale Danny Garcia Cesar Geronimo Jerry Grote Larry Gura Atlee Hammaker +23 more

35 players

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The 1981 Kansas City Royals in brief

The 1981 Kansas City Royals finished 50-53, a .485 winning percentage, placing 4th in the AL West. This was a year in which the Kansas City Royals took the division title. The run column shows 397 for and 405 against. Against a league average of .256, the 1981 Kansas City Royals batted .267. Pitchers allowed 3.56 earned runs per nine innings, against a league figure of 3.66.

The home park, Royals Stadium, recorded 1,279,440 in attendance, about 27,222 a game. For power, Willie Aikens led the way with 17 homers. The RBI leader was Amos Otis, with 57. Dennis Leonard led the pitchers with 13 wins. Dan Quisenberry closed out 18 saves. In the AL West division playoff, the Kansas City Royals lost to OAK 3-0.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1981 Kansas City Royals

What was the 1981 Kansas City Royals record?
The 1981 Kansas City Royals finished 50-53 (.485 win pct).
Who led the 1981 Kansas City Royals in home runs?
Willie Aikens led the 1981 Kansas City Royals with 17 home runs.
What was the 1981 Kansas City Royals team ERA?
The 1981 Kansas City Royals posted a team ERA of 3.56.
Did the 1981 Kansas City Royals win the World Series?
No. The 1981 Kansas City Royals did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1981 Kansas City Royals play?
The 1981 Kansas City Royals played home games at Royals Stadium.
Who led the 1981 Kansas City Royals in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Willie Aikens (17 HR, 53 RBI) and Dennis Leonard (13-11, 2.99 ERA).
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