Kansas City Royals: Top 15 Pitchers In Losses All-Time

Kansas City Royals All-Time Loss Leaders – Number 12: Bud Black (57 Losses)

Bud Black has spent a lot of years in the Major Leagues at some capacity or another. He’s currently a special assistant to the general manager for the Angels where he was a pitching coach from 2000-2006.

He’s also spent some time as a Major League manager. From 2007-2015 he was the manager for a Padres team that failed to reach the playoffs. He led them to a winning record only once.

Though he didn’t have much to do with the incident, Bud Black was the losing pitcher in the game that would go on to be known as the ‘Pine Tar’ game. It’s still fun to watch though it has nothing to do with Bud Black.

While Black may not have what it takes to lead a team as a coach, he was a big part of one of the best Royals’ teams of all-time.

1984 was Black’s best year as a Royal. He posted a 17-12 record and pitched to a 3.12 ERA across 257 innings of work. Despite his best efforts, the Royals’ would fall just a little bit short that season. They wound up losing to to the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers in the ALCS.

1985 was a little bit different for Black. He didn’t pitch great in the regular season or during the playoffs for that matter. He posted a 10-15 record in the regular season with an ERA of 4.33. He also managed 50 innings less that season than that of the previous year. In spite of his struggles, the Royals claimed the ultimate prize that year as they took home their first World Series Championship.

After the 1985 season, Bud Black was used as somewhat of a swing man. He spent time jumping from the rotation to the bullpen and managed just over 120 innings in both 1986 and 1987. His record during that time in spite of a decent ERA was 13-16. It was a rough way to pile up 16 losses.

He was eventually traded after a rough start in 1988, and his time with the Kansas City Royals came to a close.

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