As it becomes more and more apparent that Billy Butler will not be breaking the most embarrassing record in Kansas City Royals history I thought it would be a good time to look at the opposite side of the spectrum. More specifically, if Steve Balboni’s 36 home runs are the most embarrassing, then what single season record is the greatest in Royals history? Greatest can mean a lot of things, and I’m talking about all of them; least likely to be broken, most impressive in its time, and most indicative of a great season. I know a lot of you have probably already thought that this has to end with .390, so instead, I’m going to start there.

The Record: George Brett’s .390 batting average in 1980

Likelihood of being broken: Highly unlikely. Ichiro is the only hitter in the major leagues to come within 20 points of .390 in the last ten years and Tony Gwynn (.394) is the only player to top .390 since Brett did 32 years ago.

How impressive was it in its time: Brett’s .390 was the best batting average in the majors since Ted Williams famously topped .400 in 1941, so yeah, it was pretty impressive. What was really more impressive was how long he flirted with .400, though. Looking at strictly in terms of where he finished the season, he was only .002 higher than Rod Carew hit in 1977.

Indication of great season: Make no mistake; Brett’s 1980 season was by all statistical accounts the greatest of his career. His 203 OPS+ ranks as the 43^rd best season in the history of the game and there have only been nine better in the last 32 years…six of those nine were Barry Bonds.

Final judgment: This is clearly the standard by which all Royals records are measured, but is it the greatest? Let’s take a look at the challengers…

The Record: Willie Wilson’s 230 hits in 1980

Likelihood of being broken: In the last 25 years the Royals have had three hitters (Johnny Damon, Kevin Seitzer, and Joe Randa) top 200 hits so this one certainly seems possible. Ichiro is the only major leaguer to top 230 since 2000, but since Wilson did it there have been five American League hitters top the mark.

How impressive was it in its time: Other than Rod Carew Wilson was the first American League player with 230 hits since 1932 (Earl Averill). Of course, the fact that Rod Carew had 239 hits and Brett was making a run at .400 certainly took away from the accomplishment.

Indication of great season: More than anything it was an indication of great stamina. Wilson also set the club record with 705 at bats in 1980. It was a good year for Wilson, and great if you consider his gold glove and 79 stolen bases, but it wasn’t even the best offensive year of his career.

Final judgment: A great record, but when you’re overshadowed the year of the accomplishment, you can’t be the greatest

The Record: Mike Sweeney’s 144 RBI in 1980

Likelihood of being broken: During the steroid era, 144 RBI really wasn’t that big of a deal, but no one in baseball has done it for four years now. In fact, no one in the American League has even gotten within 10% of that number. When you factor in Kauffman Stadium and the contributions you need from those in front of you in the order, this at least seems less likely than Wilson’s to be broken.

How impressive was it in its time: Sweeney’s 144 RBI didn’t even lead the league that season, he finished season to Edgar Martinez. The year before Manny Ramirez drove in 165 runs, the year after Sammy Sosa drove in 160.

Indication of great season: Sweeney had a great year in 2000, his greatest in terms of cumulative statistics but a lot of that was because he stayed healthy and had an incredible offense around him. In terms of OPS+ it was his third best year.

Final judgment: Maybe the greatest record in the last thirty years, but the era takes away from so much of it.

The Record: Bret Saberhagen’s 23 wins in 1989

Likelihood of being broken: By a Royals pitcher? Ha! No Royals pitcher has come within six wins of the mark in the last ten years, and no one has come within 20% since Saberhagen set the record. Justin Verlander is the only pitcher in the majors to win more than 23 in the last ten years.

How impressive was it in its time: Frank Viola won 24 in ’88 and Bob Welch won 27 in ’90, so not that impressive right? Well, except for the fact that Sabes’ 23 wins accounted for 25% of all the clubs wins that year, yeah that’s pretty impressive.

Indication of great season: It’s become very fashionable as of late to argue against wins as a barometer of a pitcher’s success, but it’s pretty hard to argue against Saberhagen’s 1989 season. He led the league in innings pitched (262.1), complete games (12), ERA (2.16), WHIP (0.961), and K/BB ratio (4.49). It was easily his greatest season and arguably the greatest season by any Royals pitcher.

Final Judgment: If only it had been in something less arbitrary than wins.

It’s pretty clear at this point that .390 is still the greatest Royals single season record, and probably always will be. None of the four records above are likely to be broken by a Royal any time soon, it’s not often that we see (positive) records broken by Royals players these days, not even franchise records.

Lost in the roasting of Kansas City over the booing of Robinson Can0 was the sentiment that fans around baseball would not want to see Billy Butler compete in the Home Run Derby because they don’t even know who he is. If nothing else, after the heroic performance of the fans, at least no one can say that anymore. What’s more, it is about time. Time that Billy Butler get the recognition he deserves.

While the chances of Butler breaking Steve Balboni’s embarrassing home run record seem to be fading, he is nonetheless on pace to put together his most impressive season as  Royal. As of July 18, Butler was on pace for .300/32/100 while posting a career best 136 OPS in a lineup that has offered little in the way of protection. What’s more, Butler is well on his way to cementing his place as the best DH in Royals history and quite possibly the second best hitter in franchise history.

At 26 years old, Butler has already joined the Kansas City Royals all-time top ten in doubles (8^th) and RBI (10^th); he also has the fourth best career batting average (.297) and the fifth best OPS+ (121). Butler is under club control until 2015, and assuming he isn’t traded and maintains his pace of the last 2 ½ seasons, his totals will look something like this in October of 2015:

1510 hits- 6^th

351 doubles- 5th

165 home runs- 5th

751 RBI- 6th

510 BB- 5th

Not overly impressive until you think about the fact that he would still only be 29 years old. Considering that Butler is limited to the American League in terms of value, he’s not the type of power hitter that demands a huge contract, and he seems to genuinely enjoy playing in Kansas City, he could very well be the type of player we didn’t think we would see again; a great hitter to play his whole career in Kansas City. It’s foolish to say you can accurately predict what is career would look like if he did, but it’s hard to imagine that he couldn’t play at at least the same level from 26-33 as he has from 23-26. Let’s take a look at those numbers again, assuming he does:

2254 hits- 2nd

527 doubles- 2nd

249 home runs- 2nd

1123 RBI- 2nd

770 BB- 5^th

The point of this is not to project Butler’s stats over an entire career, but it is pretty easy to see that he could make a run at some incredible milestones. Ten years ago we were sure that the economics of baseball would keep us from ever having a member of the 3,000 hit club play their entire career for the Kansas City Royals, Butler could. Here are the hit totals of some of the more recent members of the 3,000 hit club at 26 years old:

Billy Butler- 864

Rafael Palmeiro- 805

Tony Gwyn- 770

Craig Biggio- 624

Wade Boggs- 531

It seemed even less likely that we’d see another Royal get 600 doubles in a Royals uniform, but again, at age 26:

George Brett- 211

Billy Butler- 198

Barry Bonds- 184

Paul Molitor- 147

Every player that has reached either one of those milestones, and is eligible for induction, is in the Hall of Fame except for Rafael Palmeiro. Billy could reach both, even without the expected surge in his performance over the next 3-5 years.  I guess I am okay with the rest of baseball not realizing what a great hitter Billy Butler is, but it would sure be a shame if there was one baseball fan in Kansas City that didn’t.

While we sit around and worry about not being able to sign the Hosmer’s and Moustakas’ of the world, let’s make sure we are celebrating #Country Breakfast, and keeping him around. While we lament the loss of Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, and Jermaine Dye, let’s consider that Billy Butler is a better hitter than any of them were through age 26.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face about whether booing Can0 was classless or small-time. I really don’t care even if you’re right. In my eyes it showed an appreciation of Billy that is long overdue, and hopefully the beginning of a love affair that lasts the next 10-15 years.

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.

For many Kansas City Royals fans, Joey Votto’s 12-year $251-million deal with the Cincinnati Reds was the worst news they had heard all spring. Fans speculated on Twitter that this would make Eric Hosmer worth at least $300 million in 4 years. Sam Mellinger wrote of how the Reds could afford such a deal, and yet the Kansas City Royals (with a slightly larger TV market) have put themselves in a position where they could not. For many the idea that Eric Hosmer is destined to leave Kansas City in 4-5 short years is just further proof that this team will never compete, the Kool Aid Drinker says not so fast.

Now it’s certainly possible that I am a little more optimistic about Hosmer’s prospects than most. I did predict he would break Steve Balboni’s HR record and win an MVP this season. While that may seem a little bit far-fetched, the odds of him doing both within in the next 4 years may be better than anyone that has ever put on a Royals uniform. If he does, the Royals have virtually no shot of locking him up long term, short of him giving the club one of the biggest hometown discounts ever. Who amongst us would fault him for not doing that? Who thinks the Royals should really lock up $250-$300 million in one player?

I’m sure a large percentage of Royals fans wonder how losing a player of this caliber could not be a complete disaster for a franchise, and to them I would suggest looking at the Texas Rangers after they lost Mark Teixeira. In 2007, the Rangers traded 1 ½ years of Tex for Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Jarros Saltamacchia. Andrus, Feliz and Harrison all contributed heavily to last year’s AL pennant winning club. Now sure, there’s no guarantee when trading for “prospects” that things will turn that well, but I’d like to think that Dayton Moore’s success in dealing Zack Greinke bodes well.

The Rangers had learned of the perils of a $200 million contract before anyone else thanks to Alex Rodriguez. The also had the foresight to see that a Scott Boras client of his caliber was going to test the free agent market and end up with a ridiculous contract. I’m sure at the time it was a terrible feeling for Rangers fans, but do you think the last two years have been?

While it may be depressing to think about, the fact is the Royals were probably never going to have Eric Hosmer for more than the 6 years that they are guaranteed, and that is not a complete disaster. Dayton Moore has set this club up to make a serious run over the next 4-5 years, and the nucleus is almost completely locked up over that time frame. Eric Hosmer looks to be one of those rare players that hits the ground running, and should only improve over that time frame. As Royals fans we should not be worried about Hosmer being so good that he becomes too expensive in 5 years, we should be hoping he does exactly that because it will most likely lead to our best chance at a World Championship in nearly 30 years.

For far too long we as Royals fans have had to manufacture reasons to get excited about this club as plan after plan failed miserably. Today, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas homered, our starting pitching shut down the Angels for a second consecutive day, and we fielded a lineup of (mostly) homegrown up-and-coming players that are virtually guaranteed to stay together and improve over the next 4 seasons. Our minor league system is second only to last year’s in the history of the franchise. We may very well be standing in line for what proves to be the greatest ride this club has ever given us. Let’s not start crying now about being sad that it’s over, it’s only just begun.

I received several texts, emails and phone calls in the days following the Tigers’ signing of Prince Fielder. The messages varied, but the tone was always the same:

“Now we have to go sign Roy Oswalt, there’s no way we can compete without him.”

“Now we have no reason to sign Oswalt, we can’t compete this year, period.”

“Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera in the same lineup? In the AL Central? This sucks.”

Yeah, well imagine you are a Royals fan that wrote this last week. Then you read that all signs point to Oswalt signing with the Cardinals. The Cardinals? Did anyone tell him that Dave Duncan left? Anyway, there was only one person that could wake me from this nightmare of the week… you guessed it, the Kool Aid Drinker.

See, the Kool Aid Drinker thinks the Fielder signing was great for the Royals. $214 million for a 275 lb first baseman that had his career high in HRs 5 years ago and his career high in RBI 3 years ago? Awesome! Prince will have 1000 games on those knees after the third game of 2012. His dad hit 1000 games, also with the Tigers, in 1999. He was also 5 years removed from his career high in home runs. He hit exactly 100 home runs from that season forward, and more than 20 just once. Sure, his dad was 4 years older, so how about another heavy first baseman? Ryan Howard hit 1000 games last season, 5 years after his career high in home runs, I guess you saw how that season ended. How about Mo Vaughn? He hit 1000 games in 1998, just three years after his career high. Vaughn played 4 more years, 2 of them productive, and had nearly twice as many strikeouts as RBI in that time frame.

Listen, the Kool Aid Drinker is not all about boring people with statistics. But feel free to check out John Kruk or Steve Balboni if you want. In fact, I think we can make some fairly simple deductions:

1. Fat first basemen do not age well
2. Prince Fielder is fat
3. Prince Fielder plays first base
4. The Royals are going to dominate the AL Central

Seriously, over the next 4 years Prince is guaranteed just shy of $100 million dollars. Eric Hosmer, over that same time, will likely make less than $20 million. Who would you rather have? In 2014 the Tigers will have a 30 year old Fielder, a 31 year old Miguel Cabrera, a 30 year old Justin Verlander, and a 35 year old Victor Martinez on the books for $83 million dollars. If you are counting at home that is a pitcher with a whole lot of mileage on his arm and 3 DHs for what figures to be 70% of their total payroll. The best part is the Royals will have control over almost all of their best players through 2014 at a much more reasonable price.

We have not even talked about defense, or the irony of Prince’s last name. A fielder he is not. Rumor has it the Tigers are planning on putting the 4th worst defensive first baseman in baseball at first base and the sixth worst defensive first baseman at third base. The Tigers should be the worst defensive team in the division, if not all of baseball. Can you imagine the hilarity of a bunt situation with Cabrera and Fielder charging? We may get some Ken Harvey humor out of this contract. By the All Star game it will be clear to even the Tigers that one of the big boys has to play DH, and neither of them wants to. That’s a chemistry builder.

Essentially, the point the Kool Aid Drinker is this: Even if the Tigers do win the division in 2012 (and I don’t think they will), they have set themselves up for failure in the future. They have behaved like far too many of our countrymen, deciding to get what they want now regardless of what effect it may have on their future. I have heard a lot about how the contract will never go 9 years because Fielder will opt out long before that, I assume the people saying that have not seen the Kool Aid Drinker’s very scientific study above. It would be pretty odd for a 295 pound DH hitting .250ish to opt out of $24 million a year, and that is exactly what Fielder will be in 3-4 years.

After Adam Dunn’s recent signing with the White Sox, I pulled up his career stats, and could hardly believe his home run totals from the last seven seasons: 46, 40, 40, 40, 40, 38, 38. The consistency is stunning, but being a Royals obsessive, something else struck me: Adam Dunn has out-homered the Royals single season record for seven straight years. (The only other player I’ve been able to find with such a streak is Babe Ruth, who hit at least 41 for seven consecutive years, 1926—32.) Dunn’s incredible stretch prompted me to delve deeper into just how pitiful the Royals lack of home run power has been.

Steve Balboni

Royals fans have enjoyed some great players over the years, but the team has somehow never had a hitter bust out with even a 40 home run season. They are the only current franchise without a 40 homer hitter. The team mark is an embarrassingly low 36, set by Steve “Bye-Bye” Balboni in 1985. Barry Bonds’ all-time record of 73 is more than twice the Royals record.

Only ten times has a Royals player reached 30 homers:

Some of the lack of power is explained by the home run graveyard that is Royals/Kauffman Stadium. In recent years, the Royals inability to hang on to power hitters has also helped keep the record intact: Carlos Beltran had 15 home runs with KC in 2004 before he was traded to the Astros—he finished the year with 38, and then peaked at 41 with the Mets in 2006. Ex-Royal Jermaine Dye knocked 44 in 2006. Health problems have also played a role: had Bo Jackson and/or Mike Sweeney been able to stay healthy, they may have taken a run at the record.

Only the Twins join the Royals in failing to have a player hit more than 36 home runs in a season since 1985. The Twins do at least have the memory of some huge home run years: Harmon Killebrew alone had nine seasons over the Balboni line.

Some astonishing numbers:

The average home run record for the 29 non-Royals franchises: 53
Average number of 37+ home run seasons per franchise: 15
Times a Yankee has hit 37+: 38
Number of individual seasons of 37+ home runs since 1985: 244
Average number of seasons of 37+ per team since 1985: 8 (In other words, if the Royals had kept pace with home run hitters around the bigs, Balboni’s mark would have been surpassed eight times in the last 25 years.)

I posted a few of these stats on Twitter recently, prompting this response from Jeff Parker of Royally Speaking: “You are bumming me out.” So, hey, how about some hope: I asked Greg Schaum of Royals Prospects what he thinks the chances are of someone currently in the Royals system breaking the record. Greg feels Mike Moustakas has the best shot: “Moose should have 3-4 peak years where he could break that record…But he still needs to prove he can handle big league pitching (especially breaking stuff). But he would be the guy with the best chance.” Moustakas’s final home run tally last year in the minors was…36.

1985 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 7 – October 27, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,658

Recap: The Kansas City Royals came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 1985 World Series to win it all, culminating in a dominating 11-0 victory in Game 7. It was a battle of aces – Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen against the Cardinals’ John Tudor. Both pitchers had been the driving forces of their teams earlier in the series, but in Game 7, only one reigned surpreme. Tudor was knocked out of the game early, giving up five runs in only 2.1 innings, including a second-inning home run to Darryl Motley that ended up being the winning hit. The Cardinals ended up using seven pitchers in the game, one more than the Royals used the entire series. One of those Cardinal pitchers, Joaquin Andujar, was ejected for arguing ball-and-strike calls with home plate umpire Don Denkinger, who made a controversial bad call in Game 6, and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog also got the boot. Meanwhile, the Royals put up 14 hits on the Cardinals’ weakened pitching staff, including a four-hit game for George Brett. Saberhagen gave up only five hits and threw a complete-game shutout. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Andy Van Slyke smacked a fly ball to right field, and the ball settled in Darryl Motley’s glove, giving the Royals their first and only World Series title.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 0 5 0

Kansas City 11 14 0

Winning pitcher: Bret Saberhagen

Losing pitcher: John Tudor

Notables: Besides Motley’s second inning home run, only one of the Royals’ hits was for extra bases, a double by Lonnie Smith; Kansas City first baseman Steve Balboni smacked two singles, scored two runs and drove in two RBIs; Motley was 3 for 4 with three RBIs; although Tudor gave up five runs in the first three innings, the real disaster struck for the Cardinals in the fifth, when a multitude of relief pitchers gave up six runs to the Royals; Willie Wilson had two hits, a run, an RBI and a stolen base for KC; no Cardinals batter recorded multiple hits or an extra-base hit; Ken Dayley pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for St. Louis.

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

1985 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 6 – October 26, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,628

Recap: This game is remembered for “The Call,” an infamous blown call by umpire Don Denkinger in the ninth. But few fans now remember another blown call that went the Cardinals’ way: in the fourth inning, Royals second baseman Frank White was called out attempting to steal second base, even though replays showed he beat the tag (the next batter hit a single, meaning White may have scored if the call had been correct). The Cardinals scored the first run of the game in the eighth, and with a 1-0 lead the Cardinals progressed to the bottom of the ninth with the championship hanging in the balance. Kansas City manager Dick Howser sent pinch hitter Jorge Orta to the plate to lead off the inning against Todd Worrell. Orta hit a squibbler down the first base line to Jack Clark, and Clark flipped the ball to Worrell covering first. Worrell beat Orta to the bag by a step, but umpire Denkinger called Orta safe. The next batter, Steve Balboni, hit a routine pop-up in foul territory, but the catch was bungled by Clark and catcher Darrell Porter. Balboni then hit a single, advancing Orta to first. When Jim Sundberg tried to bunt the runners over, a quick-thinking Worrell threw to third and got the lead runner (Orta), leaving a runner on first and second with one out. But Porter allowed a passed ball, and the runners advance. Pinch hitter Hal McRae was walked to set up the double play. With the bases loaded, pinch hitter Dane Iorg hit a single to right. Onix Concepcion, running for Balboni, scored, and Sunberg slid around Porter’s tag for the winning run.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 1 5 0

Kansas City 2 10 0

Winning pitcher: Dan Quisenberry

Losing pitcher: Todd Worrell

Notables: The Royals piled on 10 hits in the game, despite scoring only two runs; pinch hitter Brian Harper knocked in the only run for the Cardinals; The Cardinals’ Danny Cox and Kansas City’s Charlie Leibrandt started the game, and both pitched extremely well: Cox gave up no earned runs and struck out eight in seven innings, while Leibrandt gave up a single run in 7.2 innings; according to reports, a bad coincidence added insult to injury for the Cardinals: in preparation of their pending victory, the team’s locker room was filled with champagne on ice – and the champagne was waiting for them when the Cardinals walked into the locker room after the loss.

Tomorrow: A recap of Game 7.

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

1985 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 2 – October 20, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,656

Recap: For the second game in a row, the Royals put up more hits than the Cardinals, but could not find a way to win. Despite a three-hit performance including two doubles from Royals cleanup hitter Frank White and multi-hit games from Lonnie Smith and Willie Wilson, the Cardinals racked up hits in big situations. Tito Landrum had a second consecutive two-hit game, and Terry Pendleton drove in three runs. Just like in Game 1, the Royals’ starting pitcher outlasted the Cardinals’, with Charlie Liebrandt throwing 8.2 innings versus Danny Cox’s 7. The Cards also benefited from a shut-down bullpen; Ken Dayley, who recorded the win, and Jeff Lahti each threw one scoreless inning.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 4 6 0

Kansas City 2 9 0

Winning pitcher: Ken Dayley

Losing pitcher: Charlie Leibrandt

Save: Jeff Lahti

Notables: Outside of the first four hitters in the Royals’ lineup, only No. 7 hitter Steve Balboni recorded a hit for Kansas City; Frank White and Willie Wilson recorded stolen bases for KC.

Thursday: A recap of Game 3.

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

Going into the 1985 World Series, the Kansas City Royals knew they were the underdogs. Their pitching staff, although successful, was much less established than their opponent, the 101-game winning St. Louis Cardinals. And their offense seemed to be several notches below. In fact, the Royals finished second-to-last in batting in the American League in 1985.

And since this series was the last where the designated hitter was not used, even in American League parks, one of the team’s most powerful hitters, Hal McRae, was rendered a bench player.

But they did have a few potent weapons left, most noticeably a ballplayer who many already acknowledged as one of the greatest of his generation: third baseman George Brett.

Here’s a look at the starting lineup for the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the 1985 World Series – 25 years ago today:

1. Lonnie Smith, LF

A former Cardinal, Lonnie Smith was an effective leadoff hitter for KC, batting .257 over 120 games in 1985 and picking up 40 stolen bases. His speed at the top of the lineup, though, was overshadowed by the Royals’ No. 2 hitter…

2. Willie Wilson, CF

Many debates have been held over who was the faster Willie in the 1985 World Series: Cardinals center fielder Willie McGee or Royals center fielder Willie Wilson. For his part, Wilson played 141 games for the Royals in ’85 and batted .278, although he had scant power numbers for a No. 2 hitter with only four home runs. He made up for it with his wheels, though, collecting 43 stolen bases and a league-leading 21 triples.

3. George Brett, 3B

For nearly two decades, Brett was the most feared hitter in the Royals’ lineup, and 1985 was no exception. His .335 batting average was best on the team, and he blasted 30 home runs – a career high. He also led the majors with a .585 slugging percentage.

4. Frank White, 2B

Manager Dick Howser made the bold decision to bat Frank White in the cleanup spot in the ’85 Series, a decision that would pay off. During the regular season, White, a perennial Gold Glove second baseman, hit 22 home runs – like Brett, a career high – but batted only .249. Although not as fast, White was an asset on the basepaths, stealing 10 in the regular season.

5. Jim Sundberg, C

The Royals signed this veteran catcher to mentor a young pitching staff prior to the ’85 season, and it paid off. Sundberg proved to be a reliable backstop, and batted .245 with 10 home runs in the regular season. He was also a critical offensive and defensive force in the playoffs.

6. Darryl Motley, RF

Motley became most well-known for his World Series heroics in Game 7, but he held down a corner outfield spot for the Royals in 122 regular season games despite a measly .222 batting average. He did contribute 17 home runs, though.

7. Steve Balboni, 1B

The guy who hit more home runs in a single season for the Royals than anybody else in the history of the team, before or since, was batting aaaaaaaaall the way down in the seven-hole for the ’85 Royals. Balboni blasted 36 round-trippers for Kansas City in ’85, and his batting average of .243 was well above his career average. Balboni played in 160 games for KC in 1985, more than any player on the team – even George Brett.

8. Buddy Biancalana, SS

The Royals’ starting shortstop in the 1985 World Series was quite literally a joke – late-night host David Letterman frequently quipped about Buddy Biancalana’s light-hitting ways in 1985. Although Onix Concepcion played 131 games at shortstop during the regular season, Biancalana got the call to start at shortstop in the World Series. During the regular season, he batted a mere .188 over 81 games, mostly as a defensive replacement and utility player.

9. Danny Jackson, P

We’ll delve into the pitching staff tomorrow on I-70 Baseball.

Bench: Pat Sheridan, Lynn Jones, Jorge Orta, Hal McRae, Onix Concepcion, Dane Iorg, John Wathan, Greg Prior

Orta’s role in the 1985 World Series has become legendary, and we’ll explore it more later. In the regular season, he managed to play in 100 games, but was relegated to the bench for the playoffs. McRae batted .259 with 14 home runs out of the DH role. Wathan, later the Royals’ manager, was the primary backup catcher behind Sundberg.

Tomorrow: A look at the Royals’ pitching staff in 1985.

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

Matt Wilson of BaseballDigest.com contributed to this report.