The 1986 Kansas City Royals season the 18th season in Royals franchise history, and they entered the season as the defending World Series champions. It involved the Royals finishing third in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions March 28, 1986: Joe Beckwith was released by the Kansas City Royals. May 21, 1986: Mark Huismann was traded by the Royals to the Seattle Mariners for Terry Bell.Mark Huismann at Baseball Reference June 2, 1986: 1986 Major League Baseball draft Bo Jackson was drafted by the Royals in the 4th round.Bo Jackson at Baseball Reference Torey Lovullo was drafted by the Royals in the 27th round, but did not sign.Torey Lovullo at Baseball Reference August 16, 1986: Jacob Brumfield was signed as a free agent by the Royals.Jacob Brumfield at Baseball Reference Notable events July 15, 1986: Dick Howser resigned as Royals' manager after managing for the American League in the 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Howser admitted he felt sick before the game and was having trouble with signals during the game. He was later diagnosed with brain cancer and underwent surgery. Mike Ferraro took over as manager for the remainder of the season. Howser died following complications of a brain tumor in June 1987.
Roster 1986 Kansas City Royals roster Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 Jim Sundberg 140 429 91 .212 12 42 1B Steve Balboni 138 512 117 .229 29 88 2B Frank White 151 566 154 .272 22 84 SS Ángel Salazar 117 298 73 .245 0 24 3B George Brett 124 441 128 .290 16 73 LF Lonnie Smith 134 508 146 .287 8 44 CF Willie Wilson 156 631 170 .269 9 44 RF Darryl Motley 72 217 44 .203 7 20 DH Jorge Orta 106 336 93 .277 9 46
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 Rudy Law 87 307 80 .261 1 36 Hal McRae 112 278 70 .252 7 37 Jamie Quirk 80 219 47 .215 8 26 Mike Kingery 62 209 54 .258 3 14 Buddy Biancalana 100 190 46 .242 2 8 Greg Pryor 63 112 19 .170 0 7 Kevin Seitzer 28 96 31 .323 2 11 Bo Jackson 25 82 17 .207 2 9 Lynn Jones 67 47 6 .128 0 1 Rondin Johnson 11 31 8 .258 0 2 Bill Pecota 12 29 6 .207 0 2 Mike Brewer 12 18 3 .167 0 0 Terry Bell 8 3 0 .000 0 0 Dwight Taylor 4 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 Charlie Leibrandt 35 231.1 14 11 4.09 108 Dennis Leonard 33 192.2 8 13 4.44 114 Danny Jackson 32 186.0 11 12 3.20 115 Mark Gubicza 35 180.2 12 6 3.64 118 Bret Saberhagen 30 156.0 7 12 4.15 112 Scott Bankhead 24 121.0 8 9 4.61 94
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 Alan Hargesheimer 5 13.0 0 1 6.23 4
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 62 3 7 12 2.77 36 Bud Black 56 5 10 9 3.20 68 Steve Farr 56 8 4 8 3.13 83 David Cone 11 0 0 0 5.56 21 Mark Huismann 10 0 1 1 4.15 13 Steve Shields 3 0 0 0 2.08 2
Awards and honors George Brett, Lou Gehrig Award Dennis Leonard, Hutch Award
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997
References
1986 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1986 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac