The 2003 Kansas City Royals season was the 35th season of the franchise, and their 31st season at Kauffman Stadium. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League Central, with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses. It was the only winning season for the franchise between 1994 and 2013.

2003 was regarded as a hopeful season ("We Believe" was the slogan) for the Royals, as they began the season winning their first 9 games. The team spent 93 days in first place in the AL Central, but fell out of first place for the last time on August 31, and were eliminated from playoff contention on September 23.

Offseason October 15, 2002: AJ Hinch was released by the Kansas City Royals. December 18, 2002: Buddy Carlyle was signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals.

Regular season

Opening Day starters Michael Tucker – CF Joe Randa – 3B Mike Sweeney – 1B Raúl Ibañez – LF Brandon Berger – RF Ken Harvey – DH Ángel Berroa – SS Brent Mayne – C Carlos Febles – 2B

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

2003 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Designated Hitters Manager

Coaches (pitching) (first base) (third base) (hitting) (bullpen)

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 RBICBrent Mayne11337291.2456361BKen Harvey135485129.26613642BDesi Relaford141500127.254859SSÁngel Berroa158567163.28717733BJoe Randa131502146.2911672LFRaúl Ibañez157608179.2941890CFCarlos Beltrán141521160.30726100RFAaron Guiel9935498.2771552DHMike Sweeney108392115.2931683

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 Michael Tucker 104 389 102 .262 13 55 Carlos Febles 74 196 46 .235 0 11 Mike Difelice 62 189 48 .254 3 25 Dee Brown 50 132 30 .227 2 14 Mendy López 52 94 26 .277 3 11 Rondell White 22 75 26 .347 4 21 Julius Matos 28 57 15 .263 2 7 Brandon Berger 13 32 7 .219 0 3 Brent Abernathy 10 27 2 .074 0 0 Jarrod Patterson 13 22 4 .182 0 0 Morgan Burkhart 6 15 3 .200 0 1 Tom Prince 8 8 2 .250 0 1 David DeJesus 12 7 2 .286 0 0 Rontrez Johnson 8 3 1 .333 0 0 Travis Dawkins 3 2 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 Darrell May 35 210.0 10 8 3.77 115 Chris George 18 93.2 9 6 7.11 39 Runelvys Hernández 16 91.2 7 5 4.61 48 Kyle Snyder 15 85.1 1 6 5.17 39 José Lima 14 73.1 8 3 4.91 32 Jimmy Gobble 9 52.2 4 5 4.61 31 Brian Anderson 7 49.2 5 1 3.99 15 Miguel Asencio 8 48.1 2 1 5.21 27 Paul Abbott 10 47.2 1 2 5.29 32 Jamey Wright 4 25.1 1 2 4.26 19 Kevin Appier 4 19.0 1 2 4.26 5

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 Jeremy Affeldt 36 126.0 7 6 3.93 98 Kris Wilson 29 72.2 6 3 5.33 42 Brad Voyles 11 31.1 0 2 7.18 24

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 Mike MacDougal 68 3 5 27 4.08 57 Jason Grimsley 76 2 6 0 5.16 58 D.J. Carrasco 50 6 5 2 4.82 57 Sean Lowe 28 1 1 0 6.25 28 Curt Leskanic 27 1 0 2 1.73 22 Nate Field 19 1 1 0 4.15 19 Al Levine 18 0 1 1 2.53 5 Graeme Lloyd 16 0 2 0 10.95 8 Albie Lopez 15 4 2 0 12.71 15 Jason Gilfillan 13 2 0 0 7.71 12 Ryan Bukvich 9 1 0 0 9.58 8 Les Walrond 7 0 2 0 10.13 6 Rick DeHart 4 0 2 0 13.50 1 Scott Mullen 2 0 0 0 16.62 3 Jeremy Hill 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: AZL Royals BlueJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References 2003 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference 2003 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com