The Kansas City utilityman spoke on tying a record that dates back over 120 years.
Tyler Tolbert entered Tuesday night's game against the New York Mets at Citi Field with fewer than 100 career plate appearances in the big leagues.
He left it with his name next to some of the greatest hitters in baseball history, after tying the MLB record with hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances during Kansas City's wild 16-12 comeback win.
The 28-year-old finished the night 5-for-6 with a two-run home run and four singles, continuing a hot streak that began over the weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tolbert had already gone 5-for-5 in Monday's 15-1 blowout win, a game in which the Royals scored a run in every single inning for the first time since the 2016 White Sox pulled it off.
Combined with a pair of hits on Saturday, the run added up to 12 straight trips to the plate with a hit, tying the all-time mark set by Johnny Kling in 1902 and matched by Walt Dropo in 1952.
Tolbert is Thankful
After the game, Tolbert was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.
"I'm truly lost for words, honestly," he said. "I mean, I couldn't have done it without my teammates and my coaches. And I just kept saying God is good all the time. I don't know, it hasn't really hit me."
His bat from the record-tying game was sent directly to Cooperstown, headed for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Before the streak began, Tolbert was hitting just .200 on the season with seven total hits in limited action as a utilityman and base-running specialist.
By the time the streak ended on a fly out to lead off the ninth inning, his average had jumped all the way to .396.
Why Tolbert Matters to a Struggling Team
The Royals are 38-54 on the season and sit in last place in the AL Central, well out of playoff contention with the trade deadline approaching next month.
Kansas City will almost certainly be selling off pieces, and the front office knows this year has not gone the way anyone hoped.
Inconsistent pitching and an offense that has largely leaned on Bobby Witt Jr. have been the story for most of the first half.
That makes a moment like Tolbert's even more meaningful for the organization.
He is a player who does not get many chances, a guy who has bounced between Kansas City and the minors for parts of three seasons while waiting for his shot.
His speed on the bases and his ability to play multiple positions have kept him around, but nobody expected him to hit his way into the record books.
Nights like Tuesday change the way a front office sees a player, and they give fans something to hold onto even when the bigger picture is not pretty.
For a team in the middle of a tough season, those kinds of moments end up mattering more than they might seem on the surface.
