Kansas City Royals Countdown: Top 10 Individual Offensive Seasons

The Kansas City Royals have had plenty of great individual offensive seasons during their history. Here’s our countdown of the top single-season outputs.

There’s been no shortage of great hitters throughout the history of the Kansas City Royals. From the days of George Brett and Willie Wilson, to the days of Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon, to the days of Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain, there have often been multiple star bats in the lineup.

Team success didn’t always follow, but the individual achievements shouldn’t be forgotten. We already took a look at the best seasons for pitchers in Kansas City Royals history. Now, it’s time to count down the top single-season offensive performances.

If we wanted, this list could have just been based on offensive WAR. However, that would eliminate some of the fun. Not to mention the fact that Brett would hold half the 10 spots, including the top four.

One of the difficult things is comparing seasons across different eras of baseball. Obviously, numbers from the early 2000s are going to be inflated compared to those of the 1980s. It’s also hard to balance prioritizing power, average and speed when it comes to selecting the best seasons. As with the pitching list, we have allowed players to have multiple seasons. But we did our best to include as many different players as possible.

We’ll start out with those who just missed the cut.

No. 10) Danny Tartabull 1991

After finishing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting, the Mariners traded Danny Tartabull to the Kansas City Royals. The powerful outfielder put together a great inaugural season with the Royals. In that 1987 campaign, Tartabull finished 17th in MVP voting after hitting 34 home runs and driving in 101 runs. He hit .309/.390/.541, while scoring 95 runs.

However, things began trending downhill after that. His 1988 season was still solid. Tartabull’s next two years were incredibly pedestrian. Then, in his contract year, Tartabull put together one of the best seasons in Kansas City Royals history.

Tartabull played just 132 games in 1991, but he sure made the most of those games. In his final season before signing with the New York Yankees, the right-handed hitting Tartabull hit 31 home runs and 100 RBI. He put up better power numbers in 1987, albeit it in 158 games, but his 1991 campaign showed massive improvement in slugging. His batting average and on-base percentage each improved seven points over 1987, while his slugging percentage jumped 52 points to a league-leading .593.

The season earned Tartabull his only All-Star nod. Even still, Tartabull cranked out a few solid seasons with the Yankees, plus another great campaign in 1996. Tartabull incredibly drove in at least 96 runs in a season for four different franchises, while also becoming the only player in Kansas City Royals history to hit 30-plus home runs twice.

No. 9) Al Cowens 1977

There are few bigger draft steals in Kansas City Royals history than Al Cowens. In the 1969 draft — the first in the expansion team’s history, the Royals selected the outfielder in the 75th round. Suffice it to say, he outperformed that distinction in his career.

In 1977, Cowens almost became one of the most unlikely league MVPs and picked up his only Gold Glove.

Granted, Cowens never turned into a perennial All-Star. In fact, he failed to play in even a single Midsummer Classic. But for a player drafted No. 1,028 overall, just playing in the big leagues is an incredible achievement. That’s not to say he didn’t have others. In 1977, Cowens almost became one of the most unlikely league MVPs and picked up his only Gold Glove.

It was Cowens’ fourth season in the majors, and the then-25-year-old played every game. He piled up 189 hits, including an incredible 69 extra-base hits — 32 doubles, 14 triples and 23 home runs for 318 total bases. Cowens hit to a line of .312/.361/.525 — all of which wound up being career-highs. To round out his stats, the right-handed hitting Cowens scored 98 runs and drove in 112.

Only Rod Carew‘s .388 batting average kept Cowens from winning AL MVP honors. Unfortunately, he came back down to earth in 1978 and eventually got traded to the Angels prior to the 1980 season. The Royals’ return included Willie Aikens, who put together a wonderful performance in the World Series that fall. Cowens also spent time with the Tigers and Mariners, but he never could replicate his remarkable 1977 campaign.

No. 8) Johnny Damon 2000

There’s a couple of surefire ways to land on this list. One of which is to lead the league in some of the biggest stats. Damon accomplished that during his sensational 2000 season, as he led the league in runs (136) and stolen bases (46). The 26-year-old also put up some other ridiculous numbers.

He racked up 214 hits, including 42 doubles, 10 triples and 16 home runs. Damon also had 88 RBI, which constitutes the second-highest total in his career behind his 94-RBI campaign for Boston in 2004. The left-handed hitting outfielder also put up personal-bests in each of his triple-slash categories. Damon had a .327 batting average, .382 on-base percentage and .492 slugging percentage.

Thanks in part to that explosive season, he was part of a blockbuster three-team trade prior to the 2001 campaign. The former first-round pick along with Mark Ellis went to Oakland, while the Royals picked up Angel Berroa, A.J. Hinch and Roberto Hernandez. After his lone season with the A’s, which ended with a heartbreaking ALDS loss to the Yankees, Damon signed with the Red Sox. He won the 2004 World Series with Boston before signing with their rival. Damon picked up another World Series ring with the Yankees in 2009.

He earned MVP votes in four different seasons, finishing 19th after the aforementioned 2000 campaign. Damon also earned two All-Star nods in his career, which both came while he was in Boston. For someone who found plenty of success with the Red Sox and Yankees, it’s impressive that arguably Damon’s greatest season ever came with the Royals.

No. 7) Carlos Beltran 2003

Few players have combined power and speed like Beltran did in his young days in a Kansas City Royals uniform. Long before Beltran won the 2017 World Series with the Astros, the switch-hitter put together a fabulous — yet brief — Royals career.

His 1999 season ranks as arguably the greatest rookie campaign in franchise history. He ran away with Rookie of the Year before a sophomore slump. Next came three straight stellar years — the last of which makes our list, despite Beltran playing fewer games than he did in 2001 and 2002.

It began a winding road that eventually brought him back to the Astros and led to him finally winning a world championship in his 20th season.

He slashed .307/.389/.522 with a 132 OPS+ over 141 games. Beltran scored 102 runs, hit 26 home runs and drove in 100 runs. It marked the third consecutive season he reached 100 runs, 24 homers and 100 RBI. The former speedster stole 41 bases in 45 tries. He only struck out nine more times than he walked (81-72). It led to Beltran finishing ninth in MVP voting.

On the back of that great run, plus an excellent first half in 2004, Beltran became a trade deadline target. The Kansas City Royals traded him to Houston in a three-team deal. It began a winding road that eventually brought him back to the Astros and led to him finally winning a world championship in his 20th season. In between were stops with the Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Yankees and Rangers.

All told, Beltran put up several great seasons — particularly with the Mets — in a career that seems destined to end in the Hall of Fame. But, in regards to his time with the Royals, his best campaign, by a nose, came in 2003.

No. 6) Willie Wilson 1980

Despite never driving in 50 runs in a season, Wilson is one of the greatest Kansas City Royals players of all-time. The outfielder’s game was based on speed and few were faster than Wilson. He led the league in steals with 83 in 1979, but it was his 1980 campaign that ranks among the best in franchise history.

He failed to swipe the most bases that season with his steal numbers dropping all the way to 79. However, Wilson led the league in plenty of other categories as the Royals leadoff man. His plate appearances (745), at-bats (705), runs scored (133), hits (230) and triples (15) all placed first. His hits are the most a Royals player has had in a season, while his runs scored rank second in the franchise’s single-season standings.

Not only did he prove productive at scoring runs, but Wilson — by his standards — excelled at driving them in. He matched his career-high with 49 RBI that year. Wilson slashed .326/.357/.421 to earn his first of two Silver Slugger awards. His defense also earned a Gold Glove in 1980 — the only one he would ever win. All told, Wilson’s incredible season, which culminated in the Royals’ first World Series appearance, led to him finishing fourth in MVP voting. Pretty good for someone with just three home runs.

Wilson, who was a first-round draft pick in 1974, remained with the Kansas City Royals through his age-34 season. After that, he played two years each for the A’s and Cubs. But Wilson will always be remembered as a Royal.

No. 5) Hal McRae 1982

Hal McRae played baseball until he was 42 years old. So it might not come as much of a surprise that his best campaign came during his age-36 season. To be clear, McRae put up plenty of quality seasons, particularly from 1975-77, during his career. His best one came in 1982 when he earned his last of three All-Star appearances, won his only Silver Slugger award and finished fourth in MVP voting.

Remarkably, the runs driven in were 41 more than he had in any other season.

McRae put up plenty of great numbers. But two of them jump off the page. The right-handed hitting McRae led the league in both doubles (46) and RBI (133). It marked the second time he led the league in doubles. (He also did so in 1977 when he piled up 54 two-baggers.) Remarkably, the runs driven in were 41 more than he had in any other season.

Besides RBI, McRae set his career-high with 27 home runs in 1982. He hit to a line of .308/.369/.542. The slugging percentage was a personal-best, as was the resulting OPS (.910). McRae struck out just 61 times on the year compared to 55 walks. He added 91 runs and 189 hits, totaling a career-high 332 bases.

After spending his first three full seasons in Cincinnati, McRae landed in Kansas City following a trade in November 1972. He ended up playing there for the next 15 years. Between the two franchises, McRae managed to play in four World Series. It took him until the last one in 1985 to finally win a ring. In total, the outfielder/designated hitter featured in 17 World Series games, hitting .400/.440/.533.

No. 4) Mike Sweeney 2000

Starting in the new millennium, Mike Sweeney made four consecutive All-Star teams and five in six years. The first of those season proved to be his best and one of the top offensive campaigns in Kansas City Royals history. You may recall the 2000 seasons for Dye and Damon also made this list. It makes you wonder how the team still managed a losing record at 77-85.

For his part, the first baseman/designated hitter hit for average and power to remarkable extents. His triple-slash line of .333/.407/.523 complemented his 29 home runs and franchise-record 144 RBI. Despite his sustained success, Sweeney only managed one other season with more than 100 runs driven in. In 2000, he also put up personal-bests in hits (206), runs scored (105) and total bases (323).

He even performed well in some obscure stats. Sweeney had a career-high 13 sacrifice flies — almost double his second-highest total — and led the league with 15 hits-by-pitch. He also had more walks (71) than strikeouts (67). It was part of a string of five straight seasons (1999-2003) during which Sweeney never had more strikeouts than walks. The right-handed hitting Sweeney wound up 11th in MVP voting — the first of three straight seasons he would garner some votes.

Over his final three years in the majors, Sweeney bounced around to three different teams. He spent one season in Oakland, a season-and-a-half in Seattle and half-a-season in Philadelphia. Sweeney, though, never managed to replicate the success he had in Kansas City.

No. 3) John Mayberry 1975

Like most players on this list, John Mayberry had a peak of success among the best in Kansas City Royals history. However, Mayberry also managed to have the longevity that few can hang their hat on. For nine consecutive seasons, the first baseman put up at least 20 home runs or 82 RBI, including five seasons reaching both marks.

His best season came in 1975 when he put up the second-highest offensive WAR (6.4) and OPS+ (168) in franchise history for a player not named George Brett. The OPS+ actually matched Mayberry’s career-high from 1972, but this season saw the left-handed hitter put up much better numbers across the board.

Now, Mayberry’s counting stats don’t measure up with some others from this list. But his combination of hitting for average, hitting for power and drawing walks is hard to match.

Mayberry set career-highs in doubles (36), home runs (34) and RBI (106). He also led the league with 119 walks — the second time he accomplished that in his career. He even put together his best hitting line of his life, putting up a .291 batting average, a .416 on-base percentage and a .547 slugging percentage. His .963 OPS ranks sixth on the franchise’s single-season list.

Now, Mayberry’s counting stats don’t measure up with some others from this list. But his combination of hitting for average, hitting for power and drawing walks is hard to match. Plus, he put up these numbers in an era before offensive numbers across the league shot up. That’s made clear by the fact Mayberry finished second in MVP voting that year. Granted it was a distant second to Fred Lynn, but Lynn’s 21 home runs, 105 RBI and .967 OPS show it should have been much closer.

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.

No. 1) George Brett 1980

For our money, Brett’s 1985 season can only be topped by his 1980 campaign. He only played 117 games during the regular season, but it doesn’t diminish what he accomplished in that time. Brett did enough in those 117 games to be named an All-Star, land a Silver Slugger award and earn the only MVP award in franchise history. If it’s good enough for the BBWAA, then it’s good enough for us.

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Over roughly two-thirds of a normal season, Brett piled up some insane numbers. His WAR (9.4) and offensive WAR (8.5) are the best for a single season in Royals history. He scored 87 runs, hit 24 home runs and drove in 118 runs. Yes, he drove in just over one run per game. Brett managed 175 hits on the season. For comparison, Cain matched that total in 2017 while playing in 155 games.

It’s no wonder then that Brett came close to the historic .400 batting average mark. He ultimately finished with a .390 average. At the time, it was the highest batting average in baseball since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. (Tony Gwynn ultimately passed the mark with his .394 average in the strike-shortened 1994 season.)  Aside from batting average, Brett also led the league in on-base percentage (.454), slugging (.664), OPS (1.118) and OPS+ (203). Those also are franchise records.

Needless to say, the regular season would be enough to see Brett top this list — even above his other phenomenal campaigns. When you add in his postseason contributions, which helped lead the Kansas City Royals to their first AL pennant, it’s not even particularly close. In their ALCS sweep of the Yankees, Brett hit a three-run homer in Game 3 to send the club to the World Series. Even though the team lost to the Phillies in six games, the left-handed hitting Brett slashed .375/.423/.667.

Next: Top Pitching Seasons in Royals History

It proved to be a fitting individual cap to the greatest single season a Kansas City Royals position player has ever had.