Royals' Hosmer Matches Team Record for Hits in a Postseason

While the ultimate result may not have been what he was looking for, Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer earned a piece of team history during the playoffs, matching Willie Wilson's franchise record of 20 hits in a single postseason, per MLB Stat of The Day.

Wilson set the record in 1985, the year marking both Kansas City's last playoff berth and most recent World Series appearance. Known primarily for his speed, Wilson got red-hot at the plate during the '85 playoffs, piling up 20 hits in 59 at-bats (.339 batting average) between the ALCS and World Series, with both series going the full seven games.

Wilson even hit a home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS that year, despite smacking just 41 over 7,731 career regular-season at-bats.

Hosmer, meanwhile, played in 16 playoff games to match the record, with 20 hits in 61 at-bats for a .328 batting average. He had two homers, a triple and three doubles among his 20 base knocks, but he did not manage a hit in four-at bats during Wednesday's Game 7 of the World Series against the San Francisco Giants.

As disappointing as that last game was, Hosmer still emerged as one of the more unlikely postseason heroes in recent MLB history.

He posted a mediocre .270/.318/.398 slash line over 501 regular-season at-bats and missed nearly the entire month of August because of a broken hand.

Following an unexpectedly strong September, the 25-year-old first baseman etched his name in Royals lore as one of the few postseason heroes in franchise history.