Low HR totals for Royals
Posted by Andy on August 23, 2008
Over at 88 Topps Cards, we just saw Steve Balboni's card and a reader noted that he still holds the single-season record for HR for the Royals franchise.
Indeed here are the top 20 seasons by HR count for Kansas City:
Cnt Player **HR** Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Steve Balboni 36 1985 28 KCR AL 160 662 600 74 146 28 2 88 52 4 166 5 0 5 14 1 1 .243 .307 .477 .784 *3 2 Gary Gaetti 35 1995 36 KCR AL 137 578 514 76 134 27 0 96 47 6 91 8 3 6 7 3 3 .261 .329 .518 .847 *53/D 3 Dean Palmer 34 1998 29 KCR AL 152 639 572 84 159 27 2 119 48 3 134 6 0 13 18 8 2 .278 .333 .510 .843 *5D 4 Danny Tartabull 34 1987 24 KCR AL 158 667 582 95 180 27 3 101 79 2 136 1 0 5 14 9 4 .309 .390 .541 .931 *9/D 5 John Mayberry 34 1975 26 KCR AL 156 683 554 95 161 38 1 106 119 16 73 4 1 5 8 5 3 .291 .416 .547 .963 *3D 6 Jermaine Dye 33 2000 26 KCR AL 157 679 601 107 193 41 2 118 69 6 99 3 0 6 12 0 1 .321 .390 .561 .951 *9D 7 Bo Jackson 32 1989 26 KCR AL 135 561 515 86 132 15 6 105 39 8 172 3 0 4 10 26 9 .256 .310 .495 .805 *7D/8 8 Danny Tartabull 31 1991 28 KCR AL 132 557 484 78 153 35 3 100 65 6 121 3 0 5 9 6 3 .316 .397 .593 .990 *9/D 9 Chili Davis 30 1997 37 KCR AL 140 567 477 71 133 20 0 90 85 16 96 1 0 4 15 6 3 .279 .386 .509 .895 *D 10 George Brett 30 1985 32 KCR AL 155 665 550 108 184 38 5 112 103 31 49 3 0 9 12 9 1 .335 .436 .585 1.021 *5/D 11 Carlos Beltran 29 2002 25 KCR AL 162 722 637 114 174 44 7 105 71 1 135 4 3 7 12 35 7 .273 .346 .501 .847 *8D 12 Mike Sweeney 29 2001 27 KCR AL 147 632 559 97 170 46 0 99 64 13 64 2 1 6 13 10 3 .304 .374 .542 .916 *3D 13 Mike Sweeney 29 2000 26 KCR AL 159 717 618 105 206 30 0 144 71 5 67 15 0 13 15 8 3 .333 .407 .523 .930 *3D 14 Steve Balboni 29 1986 29 KCR AL 138 562 512 54 117 25 1 88 43 2 146 1 0 6 8 0 0 .229 .286 .451 .737 *3 15 Jeff King 28 1997 32 KCR AL 155 647 543 84 129 30 1 112 89 4 96 2 1 12 9 16 5 .238 .341 .451 .792 *3/D 16 Bo Jackson 28 1990 27 KCR AL 111 456 405 74 110 16 1 78 44 2 128 2 0 5 10 15 9 .272 .342 .523 .865 *87D 17 Steve Balboni 28 1984 27 KCR AL 126 488 438 58 107 23 2 77 45 5 139 4 0 1 9 0 0 .244 .320 .498 .818 *3/D 18 Jermaine Dye 27 1999 25 KCR AL 158 673 608 96 179 44 8 119 58 4 119 1 0 6 17 2 3 .294 .354 .526 .880 *9/D 19 Hal McRae 27 1982 36 KCR AL 159 676 613 91 189 46 8 133 55 7 61 5 1 2 8 4 4 .308 .369 .542 .911 *D/7 20 Bob Oliver 27 1970 27 KCR AL 160 662 612 83 159 24 6 99 42 4 126 3 2 3 15 3 3 .260 .309 .451 .760 *35
It's amazing how low the leading totals are, plus how few seasons from the Steroids Era make the top 20. I joked over on the other blog that the Royals suck even at taking steroids 🙂
I've been trying to find a way with the PI to easily list the single-season HR leaders by franchise, but haven't found a way to do that. I'm pretty sure that Balboni's total is the lowest for all teams, ever since Carlos Pena hit 46 for the Rays last year.
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I think 2nd place goes to the Marlins. Sheffield holds their record with 42. Even though theRoyals have been around 20 seasons longer than the Marlins, the cutoff will soon be 27 for the Marlins also; assuming Jacobs (25) and Cantu (22) stay on pace.
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:54 pm
No one has hit more than 34 HR for the Twins since 1970.
Was it Bill James who noted the "Curse" of Steve Balboni? I think no World Series winner had a player with more than his 36 HR for 15 years or so.
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
And in fact, Killebrew is the only Twin to hit more than 35 HR in a season (Sievers and Jim Lemon did it when they were the Senators).
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Spartanbill, I don't know who is #2, but the Mets have never had a player hit more than 41 home runs.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Carlos Pena last season was the only Devil Ray to hit more than 34 HR.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
The White Sox were very slow to come to the home run party. None of them reached 30 in a season until Bill Melton, in 1970; 40 had to wait for Frank Thomas in 1993; 50 is still waiting.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Without a football injury, what do you think Bo Jackson would have done to this record? I don't think he could have "saved" the Royals, but his loss to that franchise about the same time George Brett was in serious decline really hurt.
Do you think he would be accused of juicing?