Steve Balboni
Steve Balboni | |
---|---|
First baseman / Designated hitter | |
Born: Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S. | January 16, 1957|
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 |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Stephen Charles Balboni (
College career
Born in
He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the second round of the free agent draft in 1978. The Yankees noted that Balboni's tremendous power helped them make the decision to draft him. He was named designated hitter on The Sporting News college All-America team in 1978.
Minor league career
Balboni played in the minors off and on from
Balboni led the league in home runs six different seasons, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1992 and 1993. He led the league in
Major league career
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 parts of 11 Major 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 the
Balboni has been a resident of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.[5] He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2011.[6]
References
- ^ "The Curse of the Balboni".
- ^ "Balboni Gets Two Homers at Fenway Park". The Cape Codder. Orleans, MA. August 5, 1977. p. 23.
- ^ "Cape League Hall of Fame class of 2006". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ Kansas City Royals website
- ISBN 1-58261-719-8. Accessed February 27, 2011. "'I grew up in Massachusetts and I was a Red Sox fan of course,' said Balboni from his home in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey."
- mlb.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- The Curse of the Balboni