Kansas City Royals – George Brett (1980)
The Royals won the second World Series championship in franchise history under the watchful eye of a Vice President of Baseball Operations who had helped win the first. For 20 years, George Brett was the undisputed leader of Kansas City’s ballclub on the field, and he has continued his involvement ever since the end of his Hall of Fame career.
Brett put together a historic season in 1980, leading the Royals to the AL pennant and a World Series matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies. Though KC would have to wait until 1985 for a title, he had a year that is among the greatest the game has ever seen, and the single best in franchise history.
That year, Brett won the slash line triple crown, leading the league with a .390 batting average, .454 on-base percentage, and .664 slugging percentage, as well as having top marks with a 1.118 OPS and a 203 OPS+. He hit 33 doubles and 24 homers, drove in 118 runs, made the all-star team, won a Silver Slugger, and took home the only MVP award of his career on his way to a franchise-best 9.4 bWAR.
Since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, Brett’s 1980 season was the second-closest any player in the big leagues has come to the vaunted .400 mark again, trailing only Tony Gwynn’s .394 average in 1994. As late as September 19th, his average was above the .400 level, but he refused to miss games to protect it despite playing through injuries all season.
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