Only 7 KC Royals have accomplished this special feat

Every KC Royals fan has high expectations for Bobby Witt Jr. And why not? He was the organization’s George Brett Minor League Hitter of the Year and Baseball America’s  Minor League Player of the Year for 2021 and is MLB Pipeline’s top-ranked Kansas City prospect.

And it was a sight to see last May when he homered three times in one game for Northwest Arkansas.

Whether Witt repeats that three-blast feat when he reaches the major leagues remains to be seen, but don’t be surprised if he does. If that happens, he’ll join eight Royals who’ve done it.

One Kansas City player has more than one three-homer game to his credit.

Hall of Famer George Brett hit three homers three times for the KC Royals.

Mention any Royals record, whether it be a career or single game mark, and it’s a good bet George Brett owns it. His two regular season three-homer games stand as a club record, and he also hit three in a postseason contest.

It was the postseason feat that came first when Brett homered three times in Game 3 of the 1978 American League Championship Series against the Yankees. He battered New York’s Catfish Hunter for solo home runs in the first, third, and fifth innings.

Brett’s first regular season three-home run effort came July 22 of the following season. Facing Texas starter Steve Comer in the top of the first, he smashed a two-run homer. In the fifth, he tagged Comer for another two-run shot, and then hammered a solo homer off Bob Babcock to lead off the seventh. He contributed five RBIs to help give the Royals a 7-6 victory.

The final time Brett hit three home runs in one game was against Detroit April 20, 1983. He nailed Detroit’s Jack Morris early on with a solo homer in the top of the first, then hit another off Morris, a three-run shot in the seventh, and cracked a two-run blast off Howard Bailey in the ninth that secured KC’s comeback 8-7 win after Dan Quisenberry uncharacteristically blew the save in relief of Larry Gura. Brett finished the day 4-for-5 with seven RBIs.

Two KC Royals stars from the 1990s managed to go deep three times in a game.

After George Brett’s third three home run game, the next one for Kansas City didn’t come until Bo Jackson went deep July 17, 1990, against the Yankees.

In the first inning, Jackson hit a two-run shot to drive in Brett, and did the same thing in the third. In the fifth, he smacked a three-run bomb to score Brett and Kevin Seitzer. Jackson’s seven RBIs helped Kansas City to a 10-7 win.

One year later, Danny Tartabull joined the three-homer club when he slugged solo home runs in the second and sixth innings and a two-run homer in the eighth against Oakland July 6. Despite Tartabull’s blasts and four RBIs, the Royals lost 9-7.

Two other KC Royals homered three times in a single game in the 2010s.

After Tartabull’s 1991 effort, the next time a KC star slugged three home runs in one game was Sept. 20, 2015, when newcomer Kendrys Morales, who joined the club that season to help it make another World Series push, accomplished the feat.

Morales hit solo homers in the third, fourth, and eighth innings against Detroit. He ended up with three RBIs and scored five runs to help secure a 10-3 Kansas City victory that was never in doubt.

One year later, Lorenzo Cain made his mark against the Yankees May 10 when he hit solo shots in the third and eighth innings, and a three-run home run in the fifth. Although he had five RBIs, Kansas City lost 10-7.

KC Royals players have hit three home runs in one game 10 different times.