Kansas City Royals: All-Time Leaders in Runs Batted In

The Kansas City Royals have had some great hitters in their storied history. Who are the all-time leaders in runs batted in (or RBI, as most call it)?

The Kansas City Royals have been around for over 50 years and they’ve had some great players during that time. While the organization has just two World Series titles to their name, the Royals have been fortunate enough to have some truly fun players to watch swing the bat.

With the offseason in full swing, let’s take a look at the all-time leaders in RBI for the Royals.

ROYALS ALL-TIME LEADERS IN RBI: NUMBER 20 – AL COWENS (374)

ROYALS RIGHT FIELDER FROM 1974-1979

Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in their first ever MLB Draft, Al Cowens went on to play for the good guys for six years. During that time, he had 374 RBIs, good for 20th all-time in Royals history.

Cowens finished his Royals career slashing .282/.329/.404 with 45 home runs. Cowens had his best season in 1977 where he played in all 162 games and slashed .312/.361/.525 with 23 home runs and an astounding 112 RBI. Those 112 RBI definitely propelled Cowens into the top 20 of this list, as his next highest season total was 73 in 1979.

Al Cowens is most remembered for fighting pitcher Ed Farmer. Farmer broke Cowens’ jaw with a pitch and Cowens would miss an extended amount of time. The next year, despite Cowens and Farmer both being on different teams, Cowens tackled Farmer from behind and got a few jabs in before being separated.

That 1979 season was Cowens’ last as a Royal and he spent the next seven years with three different teams. Unfortunately, Cowens passed away in 2002 due to a heart attack. He was just 50 years old at the time of his death.