DETROIT — Salvador Perez jumped on a hanging breaking ball from Kyle Finnegan and sent it 401 feet over the Tigers’ bullpen in left field, and with one swing of the bat the Kansas City Royals had a new home run king.
Perez’s seventh-inning solo shot Saturday at Comerica Park was the 318th of his career, moving him past George Brett for the most in franchise history. Brett had held the record for 40 years, having surpassed Amos Otis with his 194th home run on April 9, 1986.
The Royals were trailing 2-1 when Perez led off the inning and turned on Finnegan’s offering. The Comerica Park crowd — not exactly a group with any rooting interest in Kansas City’s fortunes — gave Perez a standing ovation once the record was announced over the PA system. Brett himself delivered a message to Perez after the milestone.
The numbers tell you what kind of grind this was. Brett needed 2,707 games to reach 317. Perez got there in 1,805. That’s 902 fewer games — nearly six full seasons of at-bats — and the man did it while squatting behind the plate for the majority of them. Perez has hit 242 of his home runs as a catcher, 59 as a designated hitter, and 17 as a first baseman. Catchers aren’t supposed to do this. The position eats knees and saps bats, and most guys who spend that many innings in the crouch are running on fumes by their early thirties. Perez is 35 and still swinging like he’s got something to prove.
A nine-time All-Star, World Series MVP, Gold Glove winner, and Silver Slugger, Perez is now seven home runs away from passing Gary Carter and Lance Parrish for fifth-most home runs by a player who spent more than half his games behind the plate. His 318 homers for the Royals also rank third among active players who have spent their entire career with one organization, trailing only Mike Trout’s 422 for the Angels and Aaron Judge’s 385 for the Yankees.
The symmetry was almost too neat. Perez’s first career home run came on August 29, 2011 — in Detroit, off Max Scherzer. Fourteen years later, he broke the franchise record in the same ballpark. He has now hit 18 home runs at Comerica Park, more than at any road venue except Target Field (23) and Guaranteed Rate Field (20).
Saturday’s blast was his 31st career home run against the Tigers, trailing only the 36 he has hit against the Minnesota Twins. He has gone deep off 14 Cy Young winners, taken Lucas Giolito and J.A. Happ deep five times each, and parked 162 of his home runs with the bases empty. He has six grand slams and three walk-offs.
Brett’s record stood through four decades of Royals baseball — the lean years, the playoff runs, the 2015 World Series title that Perez helped deliver as MVP. The franchise has had exactly two players reach 300 home runs, and both of them wore the same uniform their entire careers. Perez is the one still adding to his total.
Sources:
- Yahoo Sports / AP: Salvador Perez breaks George Brett’s Kansas City Royals record for home runs
- Yahoo Sports / Royals Review: Salvador Perez becomes the all-time Royals home run leader