Kansas City Royals Veteran Moves Up Exclusive List in AL History Books

Salvador Perez has been one of the top slugging catchers in baseball for over a decade at this point, so he has naturally managed to rack up some pretty impressive and historic numbers with the Kansas City Royals.

That continued Monday against the Washington Nationals, when Perez delivered a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. He finished the contest 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, all en route to a 7-4 win for Kansas City.

The 35-year-old now has 294 career home runs, plus his 313 doubles and 11 triples.

According to TSN’s StatsCentre, Perez now boasts the fifth-most career extra-base hits among primary catchers in American League history, which dates back to 1901. His homer Tuesday marked 618 extra-base hits, pulling him out of a tie with New York Yankees icon Bill Dickey.

Next up on the list are Jorge Posada with 664, Yogi Berra with 728, Ivan Rodriguez with 822 and Carlton Fisk with 844. Fisk, Rodriguez, Berra and Dickey are all Hall of Famers.

Perez is certainly vying for entry to the Hall of Fame himself, boasting eight All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and a World Series ring. It remains to be seen if he will indeed earn induction, given his 35.3 career WAR, but adding to his career totals certainly won’t hurt his case.

The Royals and Nationals will continue their series at 7:40 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

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