Steve Balboni

Lore & Background

Balboni is known for the "Curse of the Balboni", an idea written about by Rany Jazayerli which said no baseball team with a player hitting more than 36 home runs for that team could win the World Series. Since Balboni was the last player to hit 36 home runs and win a World Series (1985 Royals), the curse bore his name. The curse ran from 1985 until Luis Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series.

Reader's Guide

In 1985, Balboni led the American League with 166 strikeouts. He also set the single-season home run mark for the Royals with 36. That record stood until Mike Moustakas surpassed it in 2017. He had career highs in games played (160), at-bats (600), hits (146), runs (74), doubles (28), triples (2), homers (36), and runs batted in (88-tied in 1986). He led American League first basemen with 1686 total chances and 1573 putouts in 1985. He was the Royals' starting first baseman in the 1985 World Series, batting .320 with 3 RBIs to help the Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to three. He contributed a key single in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6, as the Royals rallied from a 1–0 deficit to win 2–1, and extend the series to seven games.

Did You Know?

• Balboni was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the free agent draft in 1978.
• He won the Most Valuable Player award in 1979 with the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and the Southern League MVP Award in 1980 for the Double-A Nashville Sounds.
• In 1977, he led the Cape Cod Baseball League in home runs (13), was named league MVP, and was also the MVP of the league all-star game at Fenway Park.
• He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2011.