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.

In Their Own Story

The lights at the old Royals Stadium hummed with that particular Kansas City summer buzz, the kind where the stands are three-quarters full and the air smells like hot dogs and cut grass. Balboni steps into the box, left foot forward, bat held high. The pitcher winds up. The crack of the barrel is sharp, almost violent, and the ball sails deep into the third-base side. Balboni doesn't run. He just watches it go, taps the bat on the ground, and jogs to first with that unhurried, matter-of-fact stride. The crowd roars, not because it's a grand slam, but because it's *his* kind of hit—clean, powerful, inevitable. He's not trying to be a hero. He's just being the guy at first base. And tonight, that's enough.

Reader's Guide

Balboni made it to the New York Yankees in 1981. He went on to play in the big leagues through 1990 with a short comeback in 1993. He played for the Yankees from 1981 to 1983 until the Yankees traded him along with Roger Erickson to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Armstrong and Duane Dewey (minor leaguer). He returned to the Yankees for the 1989 and 1990 seasons when the Seattle Mariners traded him to the Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minor leaguer). He was the starting first baseman for the Kansas City Royals from 1984 to mid-1988, when the Seattle Mariners signed him as a free agent. He only played one season in Seattle. 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 also the Royals' starting first baseman in the 1985 World Series. Balboni batted .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. He also demonstrated good glove work in the field, something he was not known for during his career.

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.