If you enjoyed last week’s article then you should really enjoy this one. While explaining my hatred was an exercise in fun, I thought it this week I would look back statistically at the greatest season in the history of baseball, 1985. If Cardinals fans were upset by last week’s playful banter, I can only imagine how they’ll feel about reliving their most painful loss. We’ll start with some fun facts about the Kansas City Royals, move on to the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals, and finish with my favorite stats from the 1985 World Series.

• On this date in history, after an 8-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, the Royals were 4.5 games out of first at 33-33. Things got much worse before they got better and bottomed out at 7.5 games back on July 21st. From that point forward they finished 45-27 to win the division by one game.
• That team had only three players with an OPS+ better than 100—George Brett (179), Hal McRae (118) and Steve Balboni (112) and Brett was the only player with more than 100 runs or RBI.
• In case you ever wondered how Buddy Biancalana became so popular, Onix Concepcion may go down as the worst player ever to start a majority of the season for a World Series team. Conception hit just .204 with 8 extra base hits and an incredible 39 OPS+. He also committed at 21 errors at short in just 128 games.
• Charlie Leibrandt won 17 games and led the team with a 2.69 ERA while only striking out 4.1 batters per 9 innings. Perhaps more impressively, he threw 8 complete games including three shutouts. That was good enough for 5th in the Cy Young voting, behind two of his own teammates. Of course, Brett Saberhagen won the award, and Dan Quisenberry finished 4th.
• Coming into 1985 the Royals’ starting five had combined to win just 81 games in their career. They won 75 games in 1985 and by the end of their collective careers, they’d won 672.
• The Cardinals won their division more convincingly, but had their own struggles early. After a 13-2 loss in front of 4,817 fans in Pittsburgh, the Cards trailed by six games in their division. They finished 71-35 and led their division by three games or more for most of September.
• The Cardinals line up featured five switch hitters, and even less power than the Royals. Jack Clark led the team with 22 home runs, and no one else hit more than 13.
• By OPS+ standards, Clark was the best Cardinals hitter, but only by the slimmest of margins over speedster Willie McGee. McGee won the MVP with his .353 average, but judging by WAR it may have been one of the worst decisions in MVP history. Here’s a look at the top 5 MVP vote getters along with their WAR:
  Willie McGee- 7.9
  Dave Parker- 4.4
  Pedro Guerrero- 3.0
  Dwight Gooden- 13.0
  Tom Herr- 5.3
• John Tudor had one of the best seasons ever for a pitcher that didn’t garner even one first place vote in the CY Young race. 21-8, 1.93 with 169 Ks and just 49 BBs in 275 innings. He threw 14 complete games and 10 shutouts (2 of them lasting 10 innings, both in September). Maybe his arm fell off in Game 7.
• Joaquin Andujar was even more overworked, leading the league with 1127 batters faced in 269 innings. He had an 11 inning outing! It’s no wonder he had an ERA of nearly 9 in the postseason.
• Todd Worrell appeared in only 17 games in the regular season but 7 of the 13 in the postseason.
• There were only four home runs hit in the entire World Series, two from each team. The Cardinals home runs came from Tito Landrum and Willie McGee. They combined to hit 92 home runs in nearly 9300 at bats.
• It’s been well chronicled that the Cardinals hit .185 for the entire seven game series, but even worse was their slugging % of .269. That is historically awful. Ozzie Smith led the way with two singles in 23 at bats. The amazing part? He didn’t strike out once! The Cardinals leading RBI man Tom Herr hit .154 with exactly zero RBI.
• Steve Balboni, after hitting .243 with 36 home runs in the regular season, hit .320 with 8 singles and zero extra base hits.
• The Cardinals stole 314 bases in the regular season, or nearly two per game. They stole two in the entire seven game series and were thrown out three times.
• Brett Saberhagen threw two complete games and allowed one run and one walk while striking out ten. He was one of only seven Royals pitchers to pitch in the Series; their five starters, Quiz and Joe Beckwith. Only Bud Black had an ERA above 2.76 in the Series.

That’s it for now, although if the Royals pitching continues its current trend I may not have much more to be optimistic about in a couple of weeks.

The Kansas City Royals awarded Bruce Chen with the Bruce Rice Pitcher Of The Year Award for 2011.

Bruce Chen was a floundering pitcher who seemed to have lost his way. The Royals felt that he had something left to offer and brought him to the organization in 2009. Now, with a youth movement brewing in Kansas City, Chen finds himself as a defacto leader of the pitching staff, and he is saying all the right things.

From the Royals Awards information: Chen, 34, was 12-8 with a career best 3.77 ERA in 25 starts, leading the club in victories for the second straight season. Last year’s Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner was 8-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 14 starts against AL Central opponents. He closed the season by posting a 6-3 mark in hi final 10 starts with a 2.93 ERA and recorded a career long five-game winning streak from August 7-28. Chen became the first Royals southpaw to win 12 or more games in back-to-back season since Charlie Leibrandt (1985-88).

It is no secret that the Royals are young, in fact, they are the youngest team in Major League Baseball currently. That makes players like Chen, Jeff Francoeur and Joakim Soria all that more important to the franchise. But it is not a role that Chen takes lightly or feels he needs to actively pursue. During a conversation with i70 at the awards luncheon, Chen stated a desire to lead by example for the younger players and not force himself on them as a “leader” by title.

I like it (being the veteran)…these guys are young, full of energy, fun to be around…I feel like I’m a 27 or 25 year old pitcher. I don’t consider myself the leader, but I try to lead by example. It is an honor and a priveledge to be in the big leagues.

One of the keys to the Royals are the young players coming through the system. Chen stated that he is excited to play with guys like Wil Meyers, who he is not sure will arrive in Kansas City in 2012, and pitchers like Mike Montgomery. His true excitement lies with catcher Salvador Perez, however.

Perez is an exciting young catching prospect and Chen is excited to get to Arizona for Spring Training and start working with Perez. Developing that chemistry with his catcher is important to him as he knows he is not the easiest guy to catch.

It’s hard (working with a new catcher), you roll with the punches, you want to see who the guy is so you can develop chemistry. I’m not an easy guy to catch. I have like seven different pitches and I’m picky as to where I want them. Salvador is a very good catcher, defensively, throws guys out and blocks balls in the dirt.

With a variety of different pitches, Chen took some time to poke fun at his reputation as a breaking ball pitcher when he unveiled his work on a new pitch this off season.

I have my secret weapon, a new pitch for this year, it’s called a fastball. I plan to throw two or three a game. I still don’t have the hang of it.

Chen, who recently resigned with the Royals, thinks that returning to the organization was important to him personally. Not only does he believe that this organization took a chance on him when no one else would, making him feel some loyalty to the team, he also feels that there is “unfinished business” in Kansas City. “This town and fans want a championship”, and Chen feels that he is a vital part to this team being able to bring one home.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Bruce Chen won 12 games in 2010. He came back to win 12 again last season. Name the last Royal lefty to post back-to-back seasons with at least 12 wins.

It looked for some time like Chen wouldn’t have the chance to add to that string of 12-win seasons. But last week Chen inked a two-year deal that will hold his place in the KC rotation.

Chen is what the Royals need at this moment. He’s not a fire-balling ace. He’s not a young phenom with limitless potential. Those are nice to have, and we would take them in a heartbeat.

But what Chen is fills a need in KC. You see, the Royals have phenoms. They have players with tons of potential. They even have starting pitchers with great ability. But they haven’t won anything yet. Not at the big league level.

Bruce Chen has shown over the last two seasons that he knows how to win games.

The other Royals last season? Not so much.

Kyle Davies showed for years that he knew how to lose games. Luke Hochevar showed last year that he knew how to let winnable games slip away. Felipe Paulino, for all his promise, didn’t show that he knew how to win games. And Danny Duffy showed he has no idea what’s going on.

The addition of Jonathan Sanchez was heralded as a significant upgrade in the Royals’ rotation. But it remains to be seen if Sanchez is not a year removed from his best work. A little too reminiscent of Jeff Francis to have the hope of a franchise placed on him.

I hope Sanchez is a difference maker in KC. I hope he’s a 20 game winner. But I feel safer in hoping that Chen can win 12 games again, milking the most out of his average physical ability. And by doing so, I hope he shows Hochevar and Paulino and Duffy how to get the most out of their considerable talents.

And if Chen can win 12 games in 2012 and in 2013, he’ll match which pitcher as the last Royals lefty to win 12 in four straight seasons?

That would be none other than Charlie Leibrandt, who won 60 games over a four-year span from 1985 to 1988, and picked up a World Series ring in the process.

STARTER BRUCE CHEN NAMED

2011 BRUCE RICE ROYALS PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Kansas City, MO (November 3, 2011) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that left-hander Bruce Chen has been named the 2011 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year. The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Chen, 34, was 12-8 with a career-best 3.77 ERA in 25 starts for the Royals, leading the club in victories for the second straight season. Last year’s Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner went 6-3 at Kauffman Stadium in 2011 and 8-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 14 starts against A.L. Central opponents. He closed the season posting a 6-3 mark in his final 10 starts with a 2.93 ERA, including recording a career-long five-game winning streak from August 7-28. Chen became the first Royals southpaw to win 12 or more games in back-to-back seasons since Charlie Leibrandt did so in four straight campaigns from 1985-1988.

Earlier this week, the Royals announced that first baseman Eric Hosmer won the 2011 Joe Burke Special Achievement award and that outfielderAlex Gordon was named the 2011 Les Milgram Player of the Year.

I recently looked at the top Royals position players by Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for rolling five-year periods in club history. Here is the same for the twirlers:

1969-73

13.9 WAR Dick Drago
8.0 WAR Paul Splittorff
7.6 WAR Roger Nelson

Drago was the only pitcher to pitch regularly during each of the five first years of Royals play. “Regularly” is an understatement–he averaged 227 innings a year in this span. His 3.52 ERA only translates to a 101 ERA+, but staying healthy and pitching, pitching, and pitching some more makes him the standout hurler from the first half decade. He still ranks ninth on the team’s all-time innings pitched list.

1970-74

 

12.1 Dick Drago
10.1 Steve Busby
9.4 Paul Splittorff

 

1971-75

 

16.2 Steve Busby
11.8 Paul Splittorff
11.6 Al Fitzmorris

 

Busby’s arm only allowed him three full seasons, 1973-75.

1972-76

 

15.7 Steve Busby
13.3 Al Fitzmorris
9.5 Paul Splittorff

 

1973-77

 

14.6 Steve Busby
13.6 Al Fitzmorris
10.1 Paul Splittorff

 

1974-78

 

13.2 Dennis Leonard
10.9 Steve Busby
10.7 Al Fitzmorris

 

1975-79

 

16.0 Dennis Leonard
8.3 Paul Splittorff
6.8 Larry Gura

 

1976-80

 

16.7 Dennis Leonard
12.6 Larry Gura
8.1 Paul Splittorff

 

1977-81

 

17.9 Dennis Leonard
15.0 Larry Gura
8.0 Paul Splittorff

 

Leonard’s top five WAR seasons all came in succession from ’77-’81. He averaged an impossible 261 innings during the stretch.

 

1978-82

 

15.3 Larry Gura
11.8 Dennis Leonard
9.2 Dan Quisenberry

 

1979-83

 

14.5 Dan Quisenberry
11.3 Larry Gura
9.4 Dennis Leonard

 

1980-84

 

17.0 Dan Quisenberry
10.2 Larry Gura
6.8 Buddy Black
6.8 Dennis Leonard

 

1981-85

 

18.1 Dan Quisenberry
8.4 Buddy Black
8.1 Bret Saberhagen

 

1982-86

 

17.7 Dan Quisenberry
10.8 Charlie Leibrandt
10.4 Buddy Black

 

The Quiz dominated the ’79-’86 stretch and is the only reliever to top any five-year period.

1983-87

 

16.9 Bret Saberhagen
16.3 Charlie Leibrandt
15.8 Dan Quisenberry

 

1984-88

 

21.4 Charlie Leibrandt
20.4 Bret Saberhagen
18.8 Mark Gubicza

 

1985-89

 

27.6 Bret Saberhagen
23.1 Mark Gubicza
20.0 Charlie Leibrandt

 

Leibrandt’s 20.0 WAR is the highest total for any number three on these lists. 20 WAR players tend to get strong consideration for the team hall of fame. That three Royals starters racked up that amount in the same five year stretch is crazy.

1986-90

 

24.2 Bret Saberhagen
22.0 Mark Gubicza
13.7 Charlie Leibrandt

 

1987-91

 

27.4 Bret Saberhagen
18.2 Mark Gubicza
10.6 Charlie Leibrandt

 

1988-92

 

20.4 Bret Saberhagen
16.1 Mark Gubicza
14.5 Kevin Appier

 

1989-93

 

22.9 Kevin Appier
16.9 Bret Saberhagen
16.6 Jeff Montgomery

 

1990-94

 

28.4 Kevin Appier
13.6 Jeff Montgomery
12.7 David Cone

 

1991-95

 

28.0 Kevin Appier
13.2 Jeff Montgomery
12.7 David Cone

 

1992-96

 

30.9 Kevin Appier
12.7 David Cone
11.8 Jeff Montgomery

 

Ape remains vastly underappreciated as one of the dominant pitchers of the ’90s. This is the only five year stretch in team history that anyone not named George Brett has 30+ WAR.

1993-97

 

28.6 Kevin Appier
12.7 David Cone
9.6 Jeff Montgomery

 

1994-98

 

20.0 Kevin Appier
9.4 Tim Belcher
7.6 Mark Gubicza

 

1995-99

 

17.0 Kevin Appier
9.8 Jose Rosado
9.4 Tim Belcher

 

1996-2000

 

12.7 Kevin Appier
9.9 Jose Rosado
9.4 Tim Belcher

 

1997-2001

 

8.4 Jeff Suppan
6.5 Kevin Appier
6.4 Jose Rosado

 

1998-2002

 

9.6 Jeff Suppan
6.6 Paul Byrd
5.3 Jose Rosado

 

1999-2003

 

9.0 Jeff Suppan
6.6 Paul Byrd
5.9 Darrell May

 

2000-04

 

6.6 Paul Byrd
6.6 Darrell May
6.3 Jeff Suppan

 

2001-05

 

6.6 Paul Byrd
6.6 Darrell May
4.4 Zack Greinke

 

After having strong pitching from the club’s inception through the mid-’90s, things get really ugly in the new millennium. 6.6 is the lowest list-leading total, and 4.4 is the lowest number period.

2002-06

 

6.6 Darrell May
4.8 Paul Byrd
4.5 Zack Greinke

 

2003-07

 

7.2 Zack Greinke
5.6 Darrell May
4.9 Gil Meche

 

2004-08

 

11.4 Zack Greinke
8.7 Gil Meche
6.3 Joakim Soria

 

2005-09

 

16.6 Zack Greinke
9.4 Gil Meche
9.0 Joakim Soria

 

2006-10

 

18.3 Zack Greinke
12.7 Joakim Soria
9.0 Gil Meche

 

Awarding three points for every number one spot on these lists, two points for number two, and one point for third place, the leaders look like this:

 

27 Kevin Appier
20 Bret Saberhagen
16 Dennis Leonard
14 Dan Quisenberry
14 Zack Greinke
13 Steve Busby
12 Larry Gura
12 Paul Byrd
11 Paul Splittorff
11 Darrell May

 

Keep in mind that is roughly a reflection of how each pitcher out-performed his own teammates in his own time with the Royals.

Number of five year periods at number one:

 

8 Kevin Appier
5 Bret Saberhagen
4 Dennis Leonard
4 Dan Quisenberry
4 Zack Greinke
3 Steve Busby
3 Jeff Suppan
2 Larry Gura
2 Paul Byrd
2 Darrell May
2 Dick Drago
1 Charlie Leibrandt

Retired pitchers from that list not in the team hall of fame: Paul Byrd, Darrell May, Dick Drago and Charlie Leibrandt. Byrd, May and Drago do not have much of a case for induction. Leibrandt is a borderline candidate in my mind, probably falling just short.

Looking ahead to the almost completed next stretch of five seasons:

2007-11 (through August 14, 2011)

 

18.2 Zack Greinke
13.2 Joakim Soria
9.0 Gil Meche

 

And now for something sad. The next three pitchers on that list:

 

2.8 Robinson Tejeda
2.8 Bruce Chen
2.8 Brian Bannister

 

 

(I have combined the position player and pitcher five-year period WAR lists to get the top three players overall on my blog here.)

You should probably follow Aaron Stilley on the Twitters.

 

Twenty-five years. It’s a quarter of a century. It’s also been that long since the Kansas City Royals were in the playoffs. Nobody at the time knew it. They were too busy celebrating the first of what people believed would be many World Series titles. What nobody saw coming were 25 years of failure, losing and despair. Major League Baseball even expanded the number of playoff teams in 1994, but the Royals couldn’t take advantage and continued ending their season with game number one hundred and sixty two. The real shame of the matter is that the entire generation of Kansas Citians born after the 1970’s hasn’t had a single thing, other than a strike shortened 1994 and flukey 2003 to cheer for. However, it’s still important as Royals fans and as Kansas Citians to hold our heads high, be proud of our fandom and to celebrate history.

I could certainly rattle off a whole number of things which have changed in 25 years to bring perspective to the length of time it’s been since 1985. Instead I’d like to focus on how the game has changed. Specifically, how the fantastic seven game series we all remember, likely should have ended prior to Game 7. No, I’m not talking Denkinger. I’m talking relief pitchers.

Specifically, I’m talking about Game 2. The Royals had lost their home-field advantage by losing Game 1 at Kauffman by a score of 3-1. Winning Game 2 before hitting the road to St. Louis was seen as paramount to their goal of becoming World Champions.

Charlie Leibrandt was taking the hill as the starter. He was 28 and was having the best year he would ever have. He had a 2.69 ERA and came in 5^th in the Cy Young voting. The Royals needed him to do what he had done all year – put the Royals in a position to take this “must win” game. Leibrandt gave the team and the fans exactly that. He was absolutely dealing that night. A single by Willie Wilson in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed up by a pair of doubles by George Brett and Frank White put the Royals ahead 2-0. Usually a two-run lead seems precarious, but not on that night. The score remained the same through eight innings. Leibrandt had allowed only two hits and struck out six.

In baseball circa 2010, with a two run lead going into the ninth inning, most fans, announcers and managers are thinking “time to bring in the closer”. In fact, it wasn’t too different in 1985. Managers brought in their closers late in games when the score was close. It wasn’t as common as it is today, but it also wasn’t exactly a ground breaking bullpen move.

Dick Howser, the Royals Manager had a decision to make after the 8^th inning. Leibrandt was dealing, but could he do it for three more outs? Dan Quisenberry, the AL leader in saves and owner of a 2.37 ERA had only walked 16 batters in 129 innings. However, Quisenberry had appeared in four of the seven games in the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he hadn’t fared well. He’d pitched 4 innings and given up 3 earned runs. He led all relievers in innings during the regular season and pitched four times in seven games during the ALCS. It’s possible he had been over-worked, but maybe Howser relied too much on a small sample size. He possibly put too much stock in a couple of rough outings against the Blue Jays.

While the use of relievers in 1985 was common late in games, it was still commonplace to see pitchers throw complete games. Leibrandt had eight complete games in 1985, so he wasn’t a stranger to that 9^th inning. However he wasn’t very effective in them. In the nine games during the 1985 regular season in which he pitched, his ERA in the 9^th inning was 6.14. It’s only 7.1 innings, so again we run into the sample size issue, but he wasn’t really effective in the eighth inning either, posting a 4.40 ERA and an opponent’s batting average of .333 in 14.1 innings pitched.

It was one of those gut-instinct moments for Dick Howser. Does he run out the pitcher who is just rolling along, but tends to run out of gas in the last innings? Does he go to the closer, who dominated during the regular season but was having some troubles in the post season? It wasn’t a particularly unique moment; those are the kinds of decisions that managers are faced with all the time. However, in this case, the wrong decision could mean losing a championship.

Howser ultimately decided to go with Leibrandt and hope he could get the last three outs with a two run lead. The first batter, Willie McGee doubled to left field. Dick Howser might have questioned himself at that very moment. Ozzie Smith then grounded out and Tommy Herr flied out. All the Royals needed to take a two game lead in the World Series was a single out. The decision to leave Leibrandt in had worked pretty well up to that point. Then, a single by Jack Clark scored McGee and a double by Tito Landrum brought back the unease.

The tying run was now on third base, 90 feet away from resetting the score. Leibrandt walked Cesar Cedeno and the bases were loaded. Again, Dick Howser had to choose to either bring in his closer or let Leibrandt finish the game. He elected to let Leibrandt pitch to Terry Pendleton with the go-ahead run on second base. Pendleton hit a base clearing double to left field, the Cardinals had suddenly taken a two run lead, and the best relief pitcher in Royals history was sitting on the bench. The Cardinals took care of business in the bottom of the ninth, and suddenly, the Royals were down two games to none and had lost both games at home.

After the game Dick Howser said “I thought Charlie was in complete command.” It was a gut call for him at that moment, and it ended up being the wrong one. With the Cardinals in control of the series, lots of heat fell on the manager for his decision. In the moment, when all you need are a couple of outs, managers can tend to ignore the percentages and put their faith in their feel of the game. It’s something that’s as old as baseball and is what can make the game so great and so frustrating. Royals fans were seriously concerned about the World Series, but without that bad decision by Howser, we don’t get that fantastic (for Royals fans) Game 7. So, thanks Dick, for making that call. In the end it actually worked out better. Could you imagine the 1985 World Series without Bret Saberhagan taking the mound for Game 7?

When you take a look at the pitching staffs used during the 1985 World Series, something extraordinary comes into view.

The St. Louis Cardinals used nine pitchers during the seven-game affair, which was about average for the era.

The Kansas City Royals used six pitchers.

That’s a historically low number during a seven-game series.

How rare is it? The last team that did it before the 1985 Royals was the 1962 New York Yankees. Two of the pitchers on that team were Whitey Ford, a Hall of Famer, and Ralph Terry, that year’s World Series MVP. Both Ford and Terry started three games apiece in the 1962 championship. Some other notable teams to do it were the 1958 Milwaukee Braves (two of their six pitchers were Lew Burdette and Warren Spahn) and the 1925 Washington Senators (who featured a gentleman named Walter Johnson).

The 1965 Dodgers, a champion in seven games, featuring Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax? They needed seven pitchers.

Since 1985, only one team has used as few as six pitchers – the 1989 Oakland A’s. And that was during a four-game series.

The trend over the last two decades has been to dip into the bullpen early and often. Here’s the pitcher count for the two most recent four-game World Series matchups.

2007: Boston over Colorado

Boston: 10 pitchers

Colorado: 11 pitchers

2005: Chicago White Sox over Houston

Chicago: 11 pitchers

Houston: 11 pitchers

So who were those six extraordinary pitchers who carried the Royals through seven grueling games against a powerful St. Louis offense?

They were: Danny Jackson, Charlie Leibrandt and Bret Saberhagen, who started two games apiece; Bud Black, who started one game and pitched one out of the bullpen; Dan Quisenberry, who appeared in four games but did not record a single save; and Joe Beckwith, who pitched just two innings in Game 4.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these six pitchers, as well as some others who helped the Royals make it to the World Series.

Danny Jackson

1985 regular season: 14-12, 3.42 ERA, 114 K

1985 World Series: 2 starts (1 CG), 1-1, 1.69 ERA, 12 K

1985 ALCS: 2 games, 1 start (CG), 0.00 ERA, 7 K

MLB career: 112-131, 4.01 ERA, 1,225 K, 2,072.2 IP

One of the many players for the 1985 Royals who played for the Cardinals either before or after their time with Kansas City, Danny Jackson was a workhorse for the ’85 Royals. In the regular season he compiled a 14-12 record and pitched 208 innings. It was only his third year in the big leagues, and his first year as a full-time starter. Jackson was brilliant in the playoffs, perhaps the second-best pitcher on the team after World Series MVP Bret Saberhagen. In the ALCS, he threw a complete game shutout in Game 5. The Royals were down 3-1, on the verge of elimination, and Jackson’s win kept them in the series and gave them the momentum to win out. He was also given the ball to pitch Game 1 of the World Series, earning a tough loss by giving up just two runs over seven innings. Jackson once again got the start in a critical Game 5 of the World Series, where the Royals were again down 3-1. True to form, he pitched a complete game and gave up only one run.

Charlie Leibrandt

1985 regular season: 17-9, 2.69 ERA, 108 K

1985 World Series: 2 starts, 0-1, 2.76 ERA, 10 K

1985 ALCS: 3 games, 2 starts, 1-2, 5.28 ERA, 6 K

MLB career: 140-119, 3.71 ERA, 1,121 K, 2,308 IP

Leibrandt got his first taste of World Series play in 1985, but certainly not his last. The veteran lefty was brilliant in the regular season, but he lost two games in the 1985 ALCS and one more in the World Series. However, he was still an important piece in the Royals’ ultimate success. In Game 2 of the World Series, Leibrandt pitched eight scoreless innings and was set up to get a win before he collapsed in the ninth, giving up four runs and surrendering victory to the Cardinals. He redeemed himself in Game 6, though, pitching seven-plus innings of one-run ball before handing the game off to Dan Quisenberry, who picked up the victory. After leaving the Royals in 1989, Leibrandt went on to pitch for the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 and ’92 October Classics.

Bret Saberhagen

1985 regular season: 20-6, 2.87 ERA, 158 K, Cy Young Award

1985 World Series: 2 starts (2 CGs), 2-0, 0.50 ERA, 10 K

1985 ALCS: 2 starts, 0-0, 6.14 ERA, 6 K

MLB career: 167-117, 3.34 ERA, 1,715 K, 2,562.2 IP, 2 Cy Young Awards

We’ll be featuring Saberhagen later in our 25^th anniversary coverage. But suffice it to say, he was perhaps the biggest reason the Royals reached the World Series in 1985 – and, of course, the biggest reason they won. In only his second year in the big leagues, Sabes won 20 games and his first of two Cy Young awards in ’85. Although he wasn’t much of a factor in the ALCS, he dominated in the World Series, throwing two complete games, including a shutout in decisive Game 7.

Bud Black

1985 regular season: 10-15, 4.33 ERA, 122 K

1985 World Series: 2 games, 1 start, 0-1, 5.06 ERA, 4 K

1985 ALCS: 3 games, 1 start, 1.69 ERA, 8 K

MLB career: 121-116, 3.84 ERA, 1,039 K, 2,053.1 IP

Black was the Opening Day starter for the Royals in 1985, and for good reason: he won 17 games and pitched 257 innings for the team in ’84. Black’s regular season numbers were disappointing, but he was entrusted with starts in the ALCS and the World Series. During his World Series start, Black gave up three runs over five innings and earned a loss, placing the Cardinals on the verge of victory. But Black’s playoff heroics came in the ALCS, and out of the bullpen. In Game 6, Black came on in relief in the sixth inning and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to record a hold in a critical victory. Black has since gone on to become a successful pitching coach and, since 2007, manager of the San Diego Padres.

Dan Quisenberry

1985 regular season: 84 games, 2.37 ERA, 37 SV, 54 K

1985 World Series: 4 games, 2.08 ERA, 3 K

1985 ALCS: 4 games, 0-1, 1 SV, 3.86 ERA, 3 K

MLB career: 674 games, 244 SV, 2.76 ERA, 379 K

Quisenberry was no stranger to the pressures of the World Series. In 1980, the Quiz pitched in every game of the series, which the Royals lost in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies. He only pitched in four of seven games in 1985, but his role was just as important. Although Saberhagen gets the glory for winning a Cy Young award in 1985, Quiz also won recognition that year, picking up theRolaids Relief Man Award – his fifth. Quisenberry was what could be considered a “long closer.” Of his 244 career saves, many of them were for multiple innings. After leaving the Royals in 1988, he was signed by his old manager, Whitey Herzog, to pitch for the Cardinals. After his retirement Quiz became a published poet, but his life was cut short by cancer. He passed away in 1998.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Read more about Quisenberry in an upcoming feature story on I-70 Baseball after the conclusion of our 25^th Anniversary coverage.)

Joe Beckwith

1985 regular season: 49 games, 4.07 ERA, 95 IP, 80 K

1985 World Series: 1 game, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K

1985 ALCS: DID NOT PITCH

MLB career: 229 games, 422 IP, 3.54 ERA, 319 K

The only other true reliever besides Quisenberry to pitch for the Royals in the World Series, Beckwith was an important middle reliever for Kansas City in 1985, throwing 95 innings over 49 games. He was not used in the ALCS, but pitched two scoreless innings in Game 4 of the World Series. Beckwith played for the Los Angeles Dodgers both before and after his two-year stint with the Royals.

Mark Gubicza

1985 regular season: 14-10, 4.06 ERA, 99 K

1985 World Series: DID NOT PITCH

1985 ALCS: 2 games, 1 start, 1-0, 3.24 ERA, 4 K

MLB career: 132-136, 3.96 ERA, 2,223.1 IP, 1,371 K

Although he started a game and pitched out of the bullpen in the ALCS, second-year starter Mark Gubicza was not used in the 1985 World Series. But he was a significant member of the team in the regular season, winning 14 games and eating up 177.1 innings. Gubicza was Kansas City’s last personal link to the 1985 World Series; he played on the team through 1996, before finishing his career with the Angels. He was named to the Royals Hall of Fame in 2006. Gubicza still holds many Royals career records.

Steve Farr

1985 regular season: 16 games, 3.11 ERA, 37.2 IP, 36 K

1985 World Series: DID NOT PITCH

1985 ALCS: 2 games, 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 3 K

MLB career: 48-45, 3.25 ERA, 509 games, 824.1 IP, 668 K

Like Gubicza, Steve Farr was used by manager Dick Howser in two games of the ALCS but was not needed in the World Series. Although it was his first year on the Royals and only his second year in the big leagues, Farr pitched in 16 games for the Royals in 1985. He played for the team for six years and has gone down as one of the best middle relievers in team history.

Coming up: I-70 Baseball will take a look at some of the impact players from the 1985 World Series and, of course, we’ll examine “The Call.” Check out the site every day this week for more 25^th Anniversary coverage.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.