Kansas City Royals: Mike Moustakas Ties Another Homer Run Record

Mike Moustakas set the Kansas City Royals single-season home run record last week. On Monday, he tied the mark for most homers in a season for any Kansas City MLB team.

The Kansas City Royals already have a new home run king in Mike Moustakas. But Moose is attempting to leave no doubt that his 2017 campaign is the best for any MLB team that has called Kansas City home—not just the Royals.

He came one step closer to accomplishing that on Monday.

Moustakas’ solo homer in the seventh inning mattered little in what would become an 11-3 defeat to the Yankees. However, the blast gave him 38 home runs on the season. It extended his franchise record and, according to ESPN Stats & Info, tied Bob Cerv for the most by a Kansas City-based major league player.

Cerv hit his 38 home runs as a member of the 1958 Kansas City Athletics. The organization, which originated in Philadelphia, called Kansas City home from 1955-67 before completing its westward journey with a move to Oakland.

Before the A’s came to town, Mox McQuery and Al Myers were tied for the record. In 1886, each of them hit four home runs in the only season the Kansas City Cowboys were a member of the National League. The team, as a whole, hit 19 home runs during the 121-game season.

Taken Long Enough

After one season without baseball, the Kansas City Royals expansion franchise began play in 1969. It’s taken almost 50 years for someone to so much as match Cerv. Now, we’ll see if Moustakas can pass him with a home run at some point over the final six games of the season.

Kansas City Royals

There’s a good chance he sees the field—or at least makes a plate appearance—in every game.

It’s worth pointing out that Cerv’s accomplishment came when MLB teams still played 154 games in a season. Cerv featured in 141 of those. Entering Tuesday, Moustakas had already played in 143 games this season.

Also worth noting, Cerv had exactly twice as many home runs in 1958 as his next closest teammate—Roger Maris. Yes, that Roger Maris. After one more season in Kansas City, Maris headed to New York. In 1961—the first season the American League expanded to 162 games, Maris famously hit 61 home runs to set the record for most home runs in a single MLB season.

The 1958 season was quite the anomaly for Cerv. The home run total was 18 more than his next closest season. His 104 RBI is 17 more than he ever had before or after. His triple-slash line was incredible at .305/.371/.592. The campaign earned Cerv, who turned 33 during the season, his only All-Star nod and landed him fourth in MVP voting.

Moustakas’ season has also been an outlier, at least based on his career thus far. His previous career-high for home runs and RBI came in 2015 when he finished with 22 and 82, respectively. This season he already has 85 RBI to go with his 38 homers.

His season is already historic with breaking Steve Balboni‘s long-standing Royals record. But with one more home run, Moose will be the undisputed home run king of Kansas City.

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That, at least, gives us something else to look forward to over these final few games.