The 1988 Kansas City Royals season was the 20th season for the franchise, their 16th at Kauffman Stadium and their 2nd full season under the management of John Wathan. The Royals improved on their 83–79 record from 1987 and finished third in the American League West with an 84–77 record, However, they were eliminated from postseason contention for the 3rd consecutive season.
Offseason November 6, 1987: Danny Jackson and Angel Salazar are traded by the Royals to the Cincinnati Reds for Kurt Stillwell and Ted Power. December 10, 1987: Mélido Pérez, John Davis, Greg Hibbard, and Chuck Mount (minors) were traded by the Royals to the Chicago White Sox for Floyd Bannister and Dave Cochrane.Mélido Pérez at Baseball Reference
Regular season On Opening Day, the Royals faced the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays' George Bell set a record for the most home runs hit on Opening Day with three.SI.com – Statitudes – Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers – Sunday March 30, 2003 01:50 AM
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 13, 1988: Bill Buckner was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Bill Buckner at Baseball Reference May 27, 1988: Steve Balboni was released by the Royals.Steve Balboni at Baseball Reference June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft Bob Hamelin was drafted by the Royals in the 2nd round. Player signed June 11, 1988.Bob Hamelin at Baseball Reference Kerwin Moore was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round. Player signed June 3, 1988.Kerwin Moore at Baseball Reference June 3, 1988: Bud Black was traded by the Royals to the Cleveland Indians for Pat Tabler.Bud Black at Baseball Reference August 31, 1988: Ted Power was traded by the Royals to the Detroit Tigers for Rey Palacios and Mark Lee.Mark Lee at Baseball Reference
Roster 1988 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Game log Regular season
|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend: = Win = Loss = PostponementBold = Royals team member
Player stats
= Indicates team 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 Mike Macfarlane 70 211 56 .265 4 26 1B George Brett 157 589 180 .306 24 103 2B Frank White 150 537 126 .235 8 58 SS Kurt Stillwell 128 459 115 .251 10 53 3B Kevin Seitzer 149 559 170 .304 5 60 LF Bo Jackson 124 439 108 .246 25 68 CF Willie Wilson 147 591 155 .262 1 37 RF Danny Tartabull 146 507 139 .274 26 102 DH Bill Buckner 89 242 62 .256 3 34
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 Pat Tabler 89 301 93 .309 1 49 Jim Eisenreich 82 202 44 .218 1 19 Jamie Quirk 84 196 47 .240 8 25 Bill Pecota 90 178 37 .208 1 15 Brad Wellman 71 107 29 .271 1 6 Larry Owen 37 81 17 .210 1 3 Gary Thurman 35 66 11 .167 0 2 Steve Balboni 21 63 9 .143 2 5 Scotti Madison 16 35 6 .171 0 2 Nick Capra 14 29 4 .138 0 0 Luis de los Santos 11 22 2 .091 0 1 Thad Bosley 15 21 4 .190 0 2 Ed Hearn 7 18 4 .222 0 1 Rey Palacios 5 11 1 .091 0 0 Dave Owen 7 5 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 Mark Gubicza 35 269.2 20 8 2.70 183 Bret Saberhagen 35 260.2 14 16 3.80 171 Charlie Leibrandt 35 243.0 13 12 3.19 125 Floyd Bannister 31 189.1 12 13 4.33 113
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 Ted Power 22 80.1 5 6 5.94 44 Rick Anderson 7 34.0 2 1 4.24 9 Luis Aquino 7 29.0 1 0 2.79 11 Tom Gordon 5 15.2 0 2 5.17 18 José DeJesús 2 2.2 0 1 27.00 2
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 Steve Farr 62 5 4 20 2.50 72 Jeff Montgomery 45 7 2 1 3.45 47 Jerry Don Gleaton 42 0 4 3 3.55 29 Gene Garber 26 0 4 6 3.58 20 Dan Quisenberry 20 0 1 1 3.55 9 Israel Sánchez 19 3 2 1 4.54 14 Bud Black 17 2 1 0 4.91 19 Mark Lee 4 0 0 0 3.60 0
Awards and records George Brett, Silver Slugger Award Willie Wilson, American League Leader, TriplesGreat Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.95, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, Willie Wilson, Tied Sam Crawford's American League record, Leading AL in Triples five times
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
References
1988 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1988 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac