The 1970 Kansas City Royals season was their second in Major League Baseball. The Royals finished tied for fourth place with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League West with a record of 65–97, 33 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins. Charlie Metro took over as manager when Joe Gordon resigned after the Royals' initial season, but was replaced by Bob Lemon following a 19–33 start. Bob Oliver hit a team-high 27 home runs, becoming the first Royals player to hit 20 or more home runs in a season.
Offseason December 3, 1969: Joe Foy was traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for Amos Otis and Bob Johnson.Amos Otis page at Baseball Reference January 17, 1970: Greg Minton was drafted by the Royals in the third round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.Greg Minton page at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions May 28, 1970: Mike Fiore was traded by the Royals to the Boston Red Sox for Tom Matchick.Tom Matchick page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1970 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches (Bench) (First base) (Pitching) (Third base)
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 RBI C Ed Kirkpatrick 134 424 97 .229 18 62 1B Bob Oliver 160 612 159 .260 27 99 2B Cookie Rojas 98 384 100 .260 2 28 SS Jackie Hernández 83 238 55 .231 2 10 3B Paul Schaal 124 380 102 .268 5 35 LF Lou Piniella 144 542 163 .301 11 88 CF 159 620 176 .284 11 58 RF Pat Kelly 136 452 106 .235 6 38
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 Rich Severson 77 240 60 .250 1 22 Ellie Rodríguez 80 231 52 .225 1 15 Joe Keough 57 183 59 .322 4 21 Tom Matchick 55 158 31 .196 0 11 Billy Sorrell 57 135 36 .267 4 14 George Spriggs 51 130 27 .208 1 7 Luis Alcaraz 35 120 20 .167 1 14 Mike Fiore 25 72 13 .181 0 4 Hawk Taylor 57 55 9 .164 0 6 Jim Campanis 31 54 7 .130 2 2 Bobby Floyd 14 43 14 .326 0 9 Jerry Adair 7 27 4 .148 0 1 Buck Martinez 6 9 1 .111 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 Dick Drago 35 240.0 9 15 3.75 127 Jim Rooker 38 203.2 10 15 3.54 117 Bill Butler 25 140.2 4 12 3.77 75
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 40 214.0 8 13 3.07 206 24 121.2 2 11 4.22 59 Dave Morehead 28 121.2 3 5 3.62 69 Al Fitzmorris 43 117.2 8 5 4.44 47 Don O'Riley 9 23.1 0 0 5.40 13 4 9.0 0 2 10.00 3 Paul Splittorff 2 8.2 0 1 7.27 10
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 36 9 3 12 2.59 49 Ken Wright 47 1 2 3 5.23 30 Tom Burgmeier 41 6 6 1 3.16 43 Moe Drabowsky 24 1 2 2 3.28 38 Aurelio Monteagudo 21 1 1 0 2.96 18 Mike Hedlund 9 2 3 0 7.20 5 Jim York 4 1 1 0 3.38 6
Farm system
Notes
References
1970 Kansas City Royals team page at Baseball Reference 1970 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com