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

Kansas City Royals All-Time Loss Leaders – Number 11: Charlie Leibrandt (61 Losses)

Charlie Leibrandt posted good seasons for the Royals in all but the 1989 season. From 1984 through 1988 he was one of the Royals’ best pitchers though he did have a bit of a rough patch in 1986.

1985 was Charlie Leibrandt’s best season as a Royal. He won 17 games that year and helped lead the Royals to their second conference win in as many years. It was during the postseason that Leibrandt demonstrates the lack of power behind win/loss.

In 1984, the Royals lost the deciding game of the ALCS in a complete game three-hitter by Leibrandt. The final score was 1-0.

He also lost in game four of the 1985 ALCS after he left the game with the go-ahead run on second base. That run would go on to score and Leibrandt would get tagged with the loss though he pitched a shutout through eight innings.

Another Royals’ great, Frank White, was quoted in this write-up about Charlie Leibrandt that had him ranked as the 25th best Royal of all time:

"“A guy that was traded for peanuts to get here and had questionable speed on the ball but was a master of not allowing teams to bunch hits. He’s not a Cy Young winner or a Hall of Famer, but he’s exactly what we needed that year to back up the young guys.”"

In spite of his 2.69 ERA and 17 wins in 1985, Leibrandt never made it to an All-Star game. In his 14 year career he pitched to a 140-119 record with an overall ERA of 3.71. He had double digit win totals for the Royals in all but his final season and finished his Royals career with a 78-61 record.

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