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.

Speaking of Willie Wilson...

Despite getting edged out by Brett for most triples in a Royals uniform, Wilson still has plenty of claims to franchise fame. He may not have the career triples mark, but Wilson led the league in triples five times, and he holds the Royals record for triples in a single season, having racked up an astounding 21 in 1985. Bobby Witt Jr. has the talent to pose a legitimate threat, and he led the league in that category with 11 in 2023. Impressive, but still a large gap to make up, which will be tough to do in the modern game where triples have been minimized.

The same evolution of the game should also protect Wilson's stolen base records. Wilson stole 612 bases in his career (556 as a Royal), good for the 12th all-time, so that mark would be a massive challenge to top in any era, regardless of whether the stolen base is in favor or not. The single-season record, however, definitely does benefit from the current trends of the game.

The record is 83, which Wilson set in 1979. In fact, Wilson has four out of the top five stolen base seasons in Royals history. The lone exception is Tom Goodwin, who stole 66 in 1996, good for third place. Witt stole 49 a year ago, which puts him eleventh on the Royals list. Witt has elite speed and a green light, but that's just not how the game is played now. Only three players across all of MLB have stolen 70 or more bases in a season since 2000. Brice Turang of Milwaukee was one of them last season (73), but even with the larger bases and new rules, it doesn't feel like Wilson's record is in any real danger.

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.