List of Kansas City Royals seasons
The Kansas City Royals are a professional baseball team from Kansas City, Missouri, currently playing in the American League Central.
The team was formed by pharmaceutical executive Ewing Kauffman as a result of the move of the Athletics to Oakland,[1] and began play in 1969. They became competitive more quickly than most expansion teams in Major League Baseball, achieving a winning record in their third season. By 1976, the young team was becoming the dominant force in the AL West, winning 90 or more games in four consecutive seasons from 1975 to 1978 and twice being denied a World Series berth in the ninth inning by the Yankees.
Despite two lapses to below 80 wins, the Royals remained a force in baseball for a decade, reaching the 1980 World Series and winning in 1985 against cross-state rivals the St. Louis Cardinals, becoming the only team to ever rally from a three games to one deficit twice in the same postseason to win the World Series.
The team remained competitive throughout the mid-1990s, but then had only one winning season from 1995 to 2012. For 28 consecutive seasons, between the 1985 World Series championship and 2014, the Royals did not qualify to play in the Major League Baseball postseason, one of the longest postseason droughts during baseball's current expanded wild-card era. The worst years of era were from 2002 to 2006, when the Royals had four 100-loss seasons out of five. The team broke its postseason drought by securing the franchise's first ever wild card berth in 2014, and then advancing to the 2014 World Series.
| World Series champions | AL champions | Division champions | Wild card berth (1995–present) |
| Season | Level | League | Division | Regular season | Postseason | Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | ||||||||
| 1969 | MLB | AL | West | 4th | 69 | 93 | .426 | 28 | Lou Piniella (ROY) | |||
| 1970 | MLB | AL | West | T–4th | 65 | 97 | .401 | 33 | ||||
| 1971 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 85 | 76 | .528 | 16 | ||||
| 1972 | MLB | AL | West | 4th | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16½ | ||||
| 1973 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 88 | 74 | .543 | 6 | ||||
| 1974 | MLB | AL | West | 5th | 77 | 85 | .475 | 13 | ||||
| 1975 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 91 | 71 | .562 | 7 | ||||
| 1976 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 90 | 72 | .556 | – | Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2 | |||
| 1977 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 102 | 60 | .630 | – | Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–2 | |||
| 1978 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 92 | 70 | .568 | – | Lost ALCS (Yankees) 3–1 | |||
| 1979 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | ||||
| 1980 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 97 | 65 | .599 | – | Won ALCS (Yankees) 3–0 Lost World Series (Phillies) 4–2 |
George Brett (MVP) | ||
| 1981 | MLB | AL | West | 5th | 20 | 30 | .400 | 12 | Lost ALDS (Athletics) 3–0 | |||
| 1st | 30 | 23 | .566 | – | ||||||||
| 1982 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 90 | 72 | .556 | 3 | ||||
| 1983 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 79 | 83 | .488 | 20 | ||||
| 1984 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 84 | 78 | .519 | – | Lost ALCS (Tigers) 3–0 | |||
| 1985 | MLB | AL | West | 1st | 91 | 71 | .562 | – | Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–3 Won World Series (Cardinals) 4–3 |
Bret Saberhagen (CYA, WS MVP) | ||
| 1986 | MLB | AL | West | T–3rd | 76 | 86 | .469 | 16 | ||||
| 1987 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 83 | 79 | .512 | 2 | ||||
| 1988 | MLB | AL | West | 3rd | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | ||||
| 1989 | MLB | AL | West | 2nd | 92 | 70 | .568 | 7 | Bret Saberhagen (CYA) | |||
| 1990 | MLB | AL | West | 6th | 75 | 86 | .466 | 27½ | ||||
| 1991 | MLB | AL | West | 6th | 82 | 80 | .506 | 13 | ||||
| 1992 | MLB | AL | West | T–5th | 72 | 90 | .444 | 24 | ||||
| 1993 | MLB | AL | West | 3rd | 84 | 78 | .519 | 10 | ||||
| 1994 | MLB | AL | Central | 3rd | 64 | 51 | .557 | 4 | Playoffs canceled | Bob Hamelin (ROY) David Cone (CYA) |
||
| 1995 | MLB | AL | Central | 2nd | 70 | 74 | .486 | 30 | ||||
| 1996 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 75 | 86 | .466 | 24 | ||||
| 1997 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 67 | 94 | .416 | 19½ | ||||
| 1998 | MLB | AL | Central | 3rd | 72 | 89 | .447 | 16½ | ||||
| 1999 | MLB | AL | Central | 4th | 64 | 97 | .398 | 32½ | Carlos Beltrán (ROY) | |||
| 2000 | MLB | AL | Central | 4th | 77 | 85 | .475 | 18 | ||||
| 2001 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 65 | 97 | .401 | 26 | ||||
| 2002 | MLB | AL | Central | 4th | 62 | 100 | .383 | 32½ | ||||
| 2003 | MLB | AL | Central | 3rd | 83 | 79 | .512 | 7 | Ángel Berroa (ROY) Tony Peña (MOY) |
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| 2004 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 58 | 104 | .358 | 34 | ||||
| 2005 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 56 | 106 | .346 | 43 | ||||
| 2006 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 62 | 100 | .383 | 34 | ||||
| 2007 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 69 | 93 | .426 | 27 | ||||
| 2008 | MLB | AL | Central | 4th | 75 | 87 | .463 | 13½ | ||||
| 2009 | MLB | AL | Central | T–4th | 65 | 97 | .401 | 21½ | Zack Greinke (CYA) | |||
| 2010 | MLB | AL | Central | 5th | 67 | 95 | .414 | 27 | ||||
| 2011 | MLB | AL | Central | 4th | 71 | 91 | .438 | 24 | ||||
| 2012 | MLB | AL | Central | 3rd | 72 | 90 | .444 | 16 | ||||
| 2013 | MLB | AL | Central | 3rd | 86 | 76 | .531 | 7 | ||||
| 2014 | MLB | AL | Central | 2nd | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1 | Won AL Wild Card Game (Athletics) Won ALDS (Angels) 3–0 Won ALCS (Orioles) 4–0 Lost World Series (Giants) 4–3 |
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| 2015 | MLB | AL | Central | 1st | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | Won ALDS (Astros) 3–2 Won ALCS (Blue Jays) 4–2 Won World Series (Mets) 4–1 |
Salvador Pérez (WS MVP) | ||
| Regular season | 3623 | 3852 | .485 | 9 Postseason Appearances | ||||||||
| Playoff games | 40 | 34 | .541 | 8 Division titles, 4 League pennants | ||||||||
| Playoff series | 8 | 7 | .533 | 2 World Series Championships | ||||||||
