| Steve Balboni | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman /Designated hitter | |
| Born: (1957-01-16)January 16, 1957 (age 69) Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 22, 1981, for the New York Yankees | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1993, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .229 |
| Home runs | 181 |
| Runs batted in | 495 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Stephen Charles Balboni (/bælˈboʊni/; born January 16, 1957) is an American formerMajor League Baseball player, who played for theNew York Yankees,Seattle Mariners,Kansas City Royals, andTexas Rangers. He was a player withhome run power and a tendency tostrike out. He was nicknamed "Bye Bye" because of his home run hitting prowess. He was also known by the nickname "Bones", which is amalapropism for Balboni. He is also known for the "Curse of the Balboni", an idea written about byRany Jazayerli which said no baseball team with a player hitting more than 36 home runs for that team could win the World Series.[1] 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 untilLuis Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the2001 World Series.
Born inBrockton, Massachusetts, Balboni attendedManchester Memorial High School inManchester, New Hampshire andEckerd College inSt. Petersburg, Florida. In 1976 and 1977, he playedcollegiate summer baseball in theCape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) for theFalmouth Commodores (1976) and theYarmouth-Dennis Red Sox (1977). In 1977, he led the CCBL in home runs (13), was named leagueMVP, and was also the MVP of the leagueall-star game atFenway Park. In 2006, he was inducted into theCCBL Hall of Fame.[2][3]
He was drafted by theNew York Yankees in the second round of thefree agent draft in 1978. The Yankees noted that Balboni's tremendous power helped them make the decision to draft him. He was nameddesignated hitter onThe Sporting News collegeAll-America team in 1978.
Balboni played in the minors off and on from1978 to1993. In a total of nine seasons in the minors, he hit 239home runs and drove in 772runs. He also struck out 930 times. His career minor leaguebatting average was .261. He won theMost Valuable Player award in 1979 with theFort Lauderdale Yankees of theFlorida State League and theSouthern League MVP Award in 1980 for the Double-ANashville Sounds.
Balboni led the league in home runs six different seasons: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1992 and 1993. He led the league inruns batted in in four seasons: 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1992. He led the league in strikeouts in two seasons: 1979 and 1981. He homered every 14.6at bats and struck out every 3.8 at bats in the minors.
Balboni made it to the New York Yankees in1981. He went on to play in the big leagues through 1990 with a short comeback in 1993. He played for the Yankees from1981 to1983 until the Yankees traded him along withRoger Erickson to the Kansas City Royals forMike Armstrong and Duane Dewey (minor leaguer). He returned to the Yankees for the1989 and1990 seasons when the Seattle Mariners traded him to the Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minor leaguer). He was the startingfirst baseman for theKansas City Royals from1984 to mid-1988, when theSeattle Mariners signed him as a free agent. He only played one season in Seattle.
In parts of 11Major League seasons in which he played in 960 games, Balboni hit 181 home runs and had 495 RBI. He also struck out 856 times. His batting average was .229 (714-for-3120) and his OPS was .743. He homered every 17.2 at-bats and struck out every 3.6 at-bats in the Major Leagues.
In 1985, Balboni led theAmerican League with 166 strikeouts. He also set the single-season home run mark for the Royals with 36.[4] That record stood untilMike Moustakas surpassed it in 2017. However, that year turned out to be his best season for many reasons. 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 1686total chances and 1573putouts in 1985. He was also the Royals' starting first baseman in the1985 World Series. Balboni batted .320 with 3 RBIs to help the Royals beat theSt. 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. After retiring, he moved on to another team known as the Royals – The Flor-Mad Royals of Madison, New Jersey.
Balboni has been a resident ofBerkeley Heights, New Jersey.[5] He was elected to theInternational League Hall of Fame in 2011.[6]
· Baseball Almanac