Kansas City Royals Countdown: Top 10 Individual Offensive Seasons

No. 2) George Brett 1985

Let’s be honest. If we wanted, Brett could have made up at least half this list. That’s not hyperbole. As mentioned before, the legendary third baseman has five of the top 10 seasons based on offensive WAR in franchise history, including each of the top four. There’s a reason Brett is far and away the greatest player in Kansas City Royals history. But we also thought it best to recognize as many other players as we could.

Obviously, 1985 is remembered more for the team’s first world championship and Bret Saberhagen‘s spectacular season, which earned him a Cy Young award and a World Series MVP award. But Brett took home ALCS MVP honors to help the Royals reach the Fall Classic. It came on the heels of arguably the second best individual season in franchise history.

During the 1985 regular season, Brett had 30 home runs, 112 RBI and 108 runs scored. He hit .335/.436/.585 with his slugging percentage, OPS (1.022) and OPS+ (179) each leading the league. Brett drew 103 walks, including a ludicrous 38 intentional ones, against just 49 strikeouts.

Along with that ALCS MVP award, Brett racked up an All-Star nod, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger. He also finished second in MVP voting to a much-deserved Don Mattingly. Brett was the only player besides Mattingly to even earn a first-place vote. The fantastic campaign didn’t garner Brett an MVP award (at least not during the regular season), but his best season did.