NEW YORK, NY — Salva-318 Perez!
Salvador Perez made Royals history Saturday afternoon in Detroit and it was all on one swing of the bat to become Kansas City’s new all-time home run king with a total of 318 career home runs.
With his home run swing in the seventh inning of Saturday afternoon’s Royals-Tigers matchup in Detroit, Salvador Perez made Royals history and became Kansas City’s new all-time HR king – Image Credit: L.C. Arreguin/Latino Sports
To tie the game up at two in the seventh inning vs. the Tigers, where the Royals later went on to win 3-2, the 36-year-old of Valencia, Venezuela, Perez, blasted an 0-1 slider from Kyle Finnegan over Detroit’s bullpen and into the left field seats.
A 401 foot shot with an exit velocity of 105-MPH.
Surpassing George Brett for the Royals’ all-time HR record, a Kansas City sports icon, Perez, in the same class as the Cooperstown Hall of Famer, knew he had gotten all of it, yet his key concern was coming out of the day with a W.
“I always say, ‘it’s better when we win the game,’” Perez stated postgame, later adding, “Since I tied the (HR) record in Kansas City, the last few days, I hear people everywhere we go. ‘One more, one more.’ It’s kind of hard to not think about it.
I didn’t try to hit a homer. Just try to put a good swing and see what happens.”
Across a legendary 15-year MLB career, Salvador Perez has hit on nearly feat, being a nine-time MLB All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger, five-time Gold Glover, 2015 WS Champion, 2015 WS MVP and 2024 Roberto Clemente Award winner – Image Credit: L.C. Arreguin/Latino Sports
Number one on Kansas City’s HR all-time list, Perez (318) is fourth all-time in home runs for Venezuelan-born MLB players, trailing Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suárez (339) and two Venezuelan baseball greats he and Suarez were inspired by—Andrés Galarraga (399) and Miguel Cabrera (511)
“I didn’t think I’d make it that far in my career,” Perez said.
“A lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work.”
According to MLB.com, Perez’s 318 home runs are the seventh most by a catcher in Major League history (min. 50% of games at the position), trailing Mike Piazza (427), Johnny Bench (389), Carlton Fisk (376), Yogi Berra (358), Lance Parrish (324) and Gary Carter (324).
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