Kansas City Royals: Top all-time home run hitters
By Joel Wagler
Danny Tartabull. 12. player. 7. . RF. Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals all-time run leaders: 12. Danny Tartabull (124)
Sometimes, it is hard to remember just how good Danny Tartabull was for the KC Royals. He played on teams that featured George Brett, Bo Jackson, and Bret Saberhagen, and his name doesn’t always pop when thinking about players who were very good as Royals.
Tartabull was a pretty effective hitter for several years on the last Kansas City teams to be relevant for almost a quarter of a century.
He hit 31 or more home runs for Kansas City twice, and he drove in more than 100 runs three times. He missed nearly half the 1990 season, but still managed 15 homers and 60 RBI.
He also batted .290 for the Royals, including hitting .309 in 1987, and .316 in 1991. He led the majors in Slugging Percentage in 1991 and produced a terrific .990 OPS that season.
Danny Tartabull appears in the top 15 in several offensive categories for Kansas City, including being number nine in home runs, leaving a solid legacy for himself in this franchise’s history.
10. player. 7. . DH. Kansas City Royals. Billy Butler
Kansas City Royals all-time run leaders: 10. (tied): Billy Butler (127)
Billy Butler was a fan favorite for many years, but he just never fully developed into the kind of player Royals fans always hoped.
After several seasons of tantalizing the Royals with flashes of awesomeness, in 2012 it looked as if Butler finally reached his potential.
He hit produced a slash of .313/.373/.510/.882, hit a career-high 29 home runs, with a career-high 107 Runs Batted In. This was the Billy Butler the organization so desperately needed.
Unfortunately, those numbers were a mirage. In 2013 and 2014, his stats regressed to below his career averages in almost every single category.
As his salary rose, it became untenable for the Royals to keep Butler in hopes he could ever match his 2012 season.
Still, from 2009 through 2013, Butler never hit fewer than 15 round-trippers. Disappointingly, though, he never hit more than 21, outside of that outlier that was 2012.
Butler was missed when he left Kansas City, and he had a very decent career in blue. His 127 career homers place him tied for tenth on this list.