PCL1 Nashville Sounds

Sounds Host "Bye Bye" Balboni Bobblehead Night On Friday

August 21, 2003 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Nashville Sounds News Release


NASHVILLE — The Nashville Sounds will host their fourth bobblehead giveaway of the 2003 season when Steve Balboni dolls are distributed to the first 2,000 fans entering Greer Stadium this Friday, August 22, for the team's 7:00 p.m. game against Oklahoma (AAA-Rangers). Gates open at 5 p.m.

Balboni, who earned the nickname "Bye-Bye" because of his prodigious power that frequently sent balls bounding onto Chestnut Street over the right-field wall at Greer Stadium, spent one year (1980) in Nashville, when the Sounds were the New York Yankees' Double-A affiliate. The team won a franchise-best 97 games, but lost in the opening round of the Southern League playoffs. However, the 1980 Sounds recognized as one of the 100 greatest teams in minor league history (No. 69) in 2001.

Balboni's year was one for the record books. He jacked 34 home runs, leading the 1980 team and setting the Sounds' single-season record, a mark he now shares with Brian Dayett (1982). He also established Nashville single-season records with 122 RBI and 101 runs. His runs record lasted just one year. However, the closest anybody has come to challenging Balboni's RBI standard was Drew Denson, who drove in 103 runs in both 1993 and 1994.

In addition, Balboni's 1980 marks in games (141), hits (157), walks (82) still rank on the franchise's top-10 lists for a single season. His 34 home runs are tied for ninth on the Sounds' career list.

Balboni – who played for five major-league teams before retiring in 1993 – broke into the majors with the Yankees in 1981, appearing in just four games. It would take a December 1983 trade from the Yankees to the Kansas City for the major leagues to witness the awesome power he displayed in the Music City.

In his first year with the Royals, Balboni paced the club with 28 longballs and drove in 77, helping the Royals win the American League West Division. The following year, he hit a career-high 36 home runs – a franchise best – and drive home 88 RBI as the Royals won their lone World Series championship. In the fall classic, Balboni hit .320 (8-for-25) with three RBI.

He hit over 20 home runs five times in 11 big-league seasons, totaling 181 roundtrippers in his career. His 119 longballs as a member of the Royals ranks eighth all-time in franchise history, as does his .459 slugging percentage.

Tickets to all Nashville Sounds games are available online at www.nashvillesounds.com or by calling 615-242-4371.

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