The 1987 Kansas City Royals season was the 19th season for the franchise, and their 15th at Kauffman Stadium. It involved the Royals finishing second in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.
Offseason December 10, 1986: Scott Bankhead, Steve Shields, and Mike Kingery were traded by the Royals to the Seattle Mariners for Danny Tartabull and Rick Luecken.Danny Tartabull at Baseball Reference December 22, 1986: Alan Hargesheimer was released by the Royals.Alan Hargesheimer at Baseball Reference March 20, 1987: Derek Botelho was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Kansas City Royals for Eddie Tanner (minors) and Pete Carey (minors). March 27, 1987: David Cone and Chris Jelic were traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo.David Cone at Baseball Reference March 30, 1987: Jim Sundberg was traded by the Royals to the Chicago Cubs for Thad Bosley and Dave Gumpert.Jim Sundberg at Baseball Reference March 31, 1987: Larry Owen was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Larry Owen at Baseball Reference Billy Gardner is officially named the team's manager as Dick Howser's replacement during spring training. Howser had contracted brain cancer the previous season and was relieved of duty at the All-Star break. Howser attempted to return as manager for the season, but was physically incapable due to after-effects from his cancer treatments.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions June 2, 1987: Bret Barberie was drafted by the Royals in the 65th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Bret Barberie at Baseball Reference Notable events June 17, 1987: Manager Dick Howser passes away from brain cancer.
Roster 1987 Kansas City Royals roster Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats = Indicates team leader
= Indicates league 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 Jamie Quirk 109 296 70 .236 5 33 1B George Brett 115 427 124 .290 22 78 2B Frank White 154 563 138 .245 17 78 3B Kevin Seitzer 161 641 207 .323 15 83 SS Ángel Salazar 116 317 65 .205 2 21 LF Bo Jackson 116 396 93 .235 22 53 CF Willie Wilson 146 610 170 .279 4 30 RF Danny Tartabull 158 582 180 .309 34 101 DH Steve Balboni 121 386 80 .207 24 60
Other batters Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; RBI = Runs batted in Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI Juan Beníquez 57 174 41 .236 3 26 Lonnie Smith 48 167 42 .251 3 8 Larry Owen 76 164 31 .189 5 14 Bill Pecota 66 156 43 .276 3 14 Thad Bosley 80 140 39 .279 1 16 Ross Jones 39 114 29 .254 0 10 Jim Eisenreich 44 105 25 .238 4 21 Gary Thurman 27 81 24 .296 0 5 Jorge Orta 21 50 9 .180 2 4 Buddy Biancalana 37 47 10 .213 1 7 Hal McRae 18 32 10 .313 1 9 Mike MacFarlane 8 19 4 .211 0 3 Ed Hearn 6 17 5 .294 0 3 Scotti Madison 7 15 4 .267 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 Bret Saberhagen 33 257.0 18 10 3.36 163 Mark Gubicza 35 241.2 13 18 3.98 166 Charlie Leibrandt 35 240.1 16 11 3.41 151 Danny Jackson 36 224.0 9 18 4.02 152 Mélido Pérez 3 10.1 1 1 7.84 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 Bud Black 29 122.1 8 6 3.60 61 Rick Anderson 6 13.0 0 2 13.85 12
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 Dan Quisenberry 47 4 1 8 2.76 17 Jerry Don Gleaton 48 4 4 5 4.26 44 Steve Farr 47 4 3 1 4.15 88 John Davis 27 5 2 2 2.27 24 Bob Stoddard 17 1 3 1 4.28 23 Gene Garber 13 0 0 8 2.51 Dave Gumpert 8 0 0 0 6.05 13 Bob Shirley 3 0 0 0 14.73 1
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
References
1987 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1987 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac