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ROYALS’ STEVE BALBONI : He Might Not Look the Part, but He’s a Hit in Kansas City

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Times Staff Writer

If they ever get around to making a movie about the baseball career of Steve Balboni--and they just might, considering the way the Kansas City first baseman is hitting home runs these days--they won’t be looking for a modern-day Gary Cooper or Jimmy Stewart to play the lead.

In fact, the casting director probably will take one look at Balboni and put in an urgent call to Rob Reiner.

Balboni, 6-3, 225 pounds and balding, looks as if he belongs on the set of “All in the Family,” not in a baseball uniform. He’s definitely a throwback to the days when guys with builds like Babe Ruth ruled this game. Fashionably lean he ain’t.

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But nobody in the Royals’ royal blue is complaining about Balboni’s physique. They’re all too busy marveling at his raw power.

Despite the fact that this is only his second year with Kansas City and the fact that he was platooned a good portion of the first, Balboni already has hit more home runs in two consecutive years (59) than any other Royal in history. He has 31 homers this season alone, just three short of tying John Mayberry’s single-season club record.

And he’s been especially hot lately. In his last 21 official at-bats, Balboni has 6 hits, with 2 doubles and 3 homers, including a game-tying homer in the 11th inning Friday, a game-winning sacrifice fly Saturday and a game-winning blast in the 11th Sunday.

“He’s a hero now, you’ll have to wait until he’s done with the radio show,” teammate Dan Quisenberry told a writer in the Royals’ clubhouse Monday. “He’s a nice guy, but real quiet. You probably won’t get too much out of him.”

The Royals didn’t acquire Balboni for his eloquence, though. They liked the way he swung the bat and they’ve gotten everything they expected out of him . . . and more.

Balboni, of course, was supposed to follow in Ruth’s footsteps and hit all his homers in pinstripes. He was selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 1978 free agent draft and, as a minor leaguer in the New York organization, Balboni received more publicity than most major league players.

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Between 1979 and 1982, Balboni led the minors in home runs each year, including 1981 and 1982 when he split time between the Yankees and their Columbus farm team.

But he never got much of a chance to prove his worth in New York. In 1982 and 1983, Balboni went to the plate 193 times with the Yankees, hit .207 and seven home runs. The New York front office obviously was not impressed and decided to let Balboni do his bombing somewhere other than the Bronx.

Kansas City Manager Dick Howser couldn’t be more pleased. The Royals picked up Balboni in December, 1983 along with pitcher Roger Erickson for pitcher Mike Armstrong and catcher Duane Dewey.

“We found out he was available and we went after him,” Howser said. “I can’t say why the Yankees weren’t a little more patient, but if you look at his minor league stats, it’s obvious he deserved a real chance to play in big leagues.”

The Angels would be happier if Balboni was still in the minors, though. On Monday night, he was hitless in three at-bats, but he’s done enough damage against the Angels in a season and a half to make a career for some players. This year, he’s hitting .375 with two homers and three RBIs in seven games against California. Lifetime, he’s hitting .342 with six home runs and 13 RBIs.

In fact, Balboni points to a series at Anaheim Stadium last year as the turning point in his career.

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“Getting out of New York was the best thing that could have happened to me,” he said. “But I still felt a lot of pressure to prove myself when I got here. I got off to a slow start and that made it worse, of course.”

Balboni, a right-handed hitter, was platooning at first with Dane Iorg, playing against only left-handed pitchers.

“We came in here and I hit two homers in one game (on June 23) and then Howser put me in again against a rightie the next day. I hit another homer and went on to get 10 in 14 games.”

He’s been the Royals’ regular first baseman since, and this year he’s hit 23 of his 31 homers against right-handed pitching.

With Balboni, it’s usually a case of hit or miss. He set a Kansas City club record for strikeouts last year (139) and a major league mark (for non-pitchers) with 11 consecutive strikeouts. He’s sure to break his club record this year, already having struck out 138 times.

“He’s the most unpredictable hitter I’ve ever seen,” Howser said. “There’s no way to tell if he’s in a slump. He swings so aggressively that anytime he gets it airborne it has a chance to go out. He’s knocked in a whole lot of key runs for us.”

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Balboni is quick to point out that in 1980 with Nashville, he led the league in strikeouts (162), but he also hit .301 with 34 homers and 122 RBIs.

“I’ve always struck out a lot and I’m not going to change anything,” Balboni said. “I don’t know exactly how many (homers) I’ve hit this year with two strikes, but there’s been quite a few.

“The way I look at it, a strikeout is no different than a pop-up or a ground out, so I’m not going to start trying to just put the ball in play with two strikes.”

If he keeps putting the ball out of play as often as he has in the last two years, nobody’s going to ask him to change tactics, either.

Or go on a diet, for that matter.

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