Salvador Perez is one of the best catchers in the history of baseball.
He joined a club on Saturday that helps prove that point for the Kansas City Royals‘ legend.
Perez has now hit 300 career home runs and driven in 1,000 runs in his time in Major League Baseball.
He reached the feats on one swing, too.
And now, that makes Perez the eighth catcher in MLB history in the 300-homer, 1000-RBI club, according to MLB.com.
“We’ve talked quite a bit about the respect that he’s earned around the league and from the players,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com. “You see it night in and night out. It’s really cool. The way he handles things, the way he respects other people as well. He does everything the right way. He’s somebody that you hope your kids grow up to be like.”
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The other seven members of the list include six Hall of Famers: Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter and Ivan Rodriguez. The only non-HOF player on the list is eight-time All-Star Lance Parrish.
That might point right to where Perez is headed once he retires.
But first, he couldn’t quite relish in the accomplishment. Because on Saturday, the Royals didn’t find a way to win.
“I would feel better if we won the game tonight,” Perez told MLB.com. “I think everybody in this game has some personal goals. But I always say the most important thing is to win. No matter what you do. At the end of the day, it’s about [if you] win or lose. It’s not about you… I thank God for letting me play the game that I love to play, compete every day. But I would have felt better if we won tonight.”
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