The KC Royals franchise records that will NEVER be broken

The inspiration for this article came from my colleague, Jacob Milham when he pointed out that Salvador Perez recorded the 80th three-hit game of his KC Royals career this season. That's a remarkable achievement, good for tenth on the all-time Royals list. Number one is George Brett, with 265, which is 75 ahead of Willie Wilson in second place. In other words, as impressive as Perez's feat is, that record is not falling anytime soon.

The MLB record book is a sacred text, despite the damage done to it in the steroid era, and records are made to be broken. That's the beauty of records. It isn't just the accomplishments they celebrate. The pursuit of those milestones adds another layer of enjoyment to the game for fans beyond wins and losses, and when your team has lost as many games as the Royals, that sort of thing matters.

That being said, like Brett's 265 three-hit games, some of those marks are practically untouchable.

George Brett is the obvious starting point in the KC Royals record book

Not surprisingly, Brett's name is all over the Royals' record book, and many of his marks might as well be chiseled in stone. For example, Brett, who won three batting titles in his career, holds the team record for the highest batting average in a single season, dating back to his historic pursuit of .400 in 1980. He finished with a .390 average. Tony Gwynn is the only player to top him in the modern era, hitting .394 in the strike-shortened '94 season, and few others have even come remotely close. Given the overall dip in batting average across baseball in the twenty-first century, this record feels safe for the foreseeable future.

His career average of .305 is similarly intimidating, as are his 3,154 hits. Few players are pacing toward 3,000 hits in this day and age, and Salvador Perez is currently the active hits leader for the franchise, with just over 1,400 at age 33.

Brett's most impressive statistical achievement may be his 665 career doubles. That's a ridiculous number, good enough for seventh all-time in MLB history. Less expected, but perhaps nearly as impressive, is Brett's team record of 137 triples. This is good enough for 70th all-time in MLB, but it's the second most since 1965. In a weird quirk, his former teammate, Willie Wilson, actually has the most in that time, with 147. But because Wilson did not finish his career in Kansas City, only 133 came as a Royal.

Not all of his records feel quite so permanent, however. In recent years, Royals sluggers finally updated the team's single-season home run record to a respectable number. With all due respect to Steve Balboni, it was embarrassing that his 1985 record of 36 homers stood for so long. Mike Moustakas topped it with 38 in 2017, but the current record of 48, set by Jorge Soler in 2019 and Perez in 2021, is much more palatable.

Brett was never considered a slugger, and he never held the single-season home run mark for the Royals, but he is the franchise's career home run leader with 317. Salvy currently sits at 248, so hopefully, he will stay healthy and put his name on the record in the not-too-distant future. Brett can afford to give that one up. He will still have plenty of accolades to his name, but he's not the only Royals legend with his name stamped all over the record book.

Don't forget about the pitchers

Brett and Wilson don't own the whole Royals' record book, of course. The Royals have sent several iconic pitchers to the mound, and many of them look to be cemented in the Royals' record book for a long time to come. The names will be quite familiar to Royals fans.

Steve Busby threw two no-hitters for the Royals. This particular record may not jump off the page, but setting aside the fact that no-hitters are incredibly difficult to pull off in general, it should be pointed out that, despite their once-storied pitching history, the Royals have only thrown a total of four no-hitters in their entire 55-year history. The last of which was thrown by Bret Saberhagen in 1991. To put that in perspective, the Astros added their 17th all-time no-hitter earlier this season.

Saberhagen owns the single-season win record for the Royals, picking up 23 during his second Cy Young season in 1989. Pitchers' win-loss records have been devalued in modern baseball, and as bullpens are increasingly prioritized, win totals continue to decrease. Perhaps Cole Ragans makes the jump to true ace and bucks the odds, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Even rarer now than a 20-game winner are complete games. Dennis Leonard threw 103 of them in his career, and no one is touching that. He threw 21 in 1977 alone, a record I'd bet my left hand will also never be broken. He posted 23 career shutouts. The entire 2024 starting rotation will probably not throw 23 complete games combined in their respective careers, let alone 23 shutouts.

With the modern emphasis on the bullpen, saves are a dicier proposition. On the other hand, many closers have relatively short shelf lives. What does that mean? It means Greg Holland's single-season save record (47 in 2013) is a lot more vulnerable than Jeff Montgomery's career mark of 304. Holland was dominant in the HDH era, but he never seriously threatened Montgomery's mark, finishing with 220 saves in 12 seasons. And only 159 of those were in a Royals uniform. So while a new closer might threaten Holland with a single spectacular season, it's unlikely they'll be able to maintain it long enough to make a run at Montgomery, who ranks 28th in all-time saves.

Some fun ones before we wrap this up

This is where we get into the less obvious pages of the Royals' record book. For example, it may surprise you that Wilson does not own the single-game steal mark. That honor goes to Amos Otis, who swiped five in a game in 1971. So here are some quick hitters on the way out to fuel your next round of Royals trivia.

Here's one that isn't likely to be broken anytime soon, given how the Royals are regularly at the bottom of the league in walks. The most walks by the Royals in a single game is 15. You read that right, 15! That came in a 7-0 win over the White Sox in 1975. Freddie Patek and Harmon Killibrew both recorded three apiece.

On the flip side of the coin, the Royals once struck out 18 times in a game in 1998, losing 3-0 to the Blue Jays. Rogers Clemens was on the mound for Toronto, and he recorded all 18 himself in a complete game.

The Royals' offense isn't always so inept though. Six years later, they set the team record for most runs and hits in the same game, posting 26 of each in a 26-5 win over Detroit. Joe Randa racked up six hits in that game, tying the team single-game mark also held by Bob Oliver and Kevin Seitzer.

On the pitching side, Danny Duffy holds the single-game strikeout record, fanning 16 against the Rays in 2016. Maybe Cole Ragans can make a run at it, but no pitcher on the roster is going to beat Larry Gura's record of most innings pitched in a game. He hurled 13 against the A's in 1980 but picked up a no-decision when the Royals lost in 14 innings. Contrary to popular belief, Jordan Lyles did not set the team mark for most home runs given up in a game last season. That distinction belongs to Sean O'Sullivan, who gave up five bombs against a loaded Rangers lineup in 2011.

I don't want to end on a negative note though, so here's a good one. The longest hitting streak in Royals history is still a far cry from Joe DiMaggio's 56, but Whit Merrifield's mark of 31, split over the 2018-19 seasons, is still pretty impressive.

This article barely scratches the surface of the Royals' record book, so I highly recommend perusing it yourself. I'll leave it up to you to decide which records are attainable or not, but if you're anything like me, simply skimming the records is likely to lead to a lot of reminiscing and trivia with your friends.

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