{"id":2282416,"date":"2026-02-15T00:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T00:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2282416"},"modified":"2026-02-15T00:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T00:22:14","slug":"royals-slugger-salvador-perez-quietly-fulfilled-his-mothers-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-slugger-salvador-perez-quietly-fulfilled-his-mothers-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Slugger Salvador Perez Quietly Fulfilled His Mother&#8217;s Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div q:key=\"QW_4\"><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=68 q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>Salvador Perez is one of the best players in Kansas City Royals history. There are few players in the organization&#39;s history who have achieved as much as he has to this point. Perez still isn&#39;t slowing down either, as he won a Silver Slugger award in 2024 and hit 30 home runs last season.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=69 q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">Salvador Perez is one of the best players in Kansas City Royals history. There are few players in the organization&#8217;s history who have achieved as much as he has to this point. Perez still isn&#8217;t slowing down either, as he won a Silver Slugger award in 2024 and hit 30 home runs last season.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6b q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>But Perez still hadn&#39;t achieved one of his mother&#39;s biggest wishes for him. He hadn&#39;t played for her favorite Venezuelan winter league team, the Leones del Caracas, before this offseason.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6c q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">But Perez still hadn&#8217;t achieved one of his mother&#8217;s biggest wishes for him. He hadn&#8217;t played for her favorite Venezuelan winter league team, the Leones del Caracas, before this offseason.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6e q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7047128\/2026\/02\/14\/diamondbacks-zac-gallen-scott-boras-contracts\/\" target=\"_blank\">provided an update to the situation<\/a> after Perez finally fulfilled his mother&#39;s dream with an appearance, and home run, for Leones del Caracas this winter.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6f q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7047128\/2026\/02\/14\/diamondbacks-zac-gallen-scott-boras-contracts\/\" target=\"_blank\">provided an update to the situation<\/a> after Perez finally fulfilled his mother&#8217;s dream with an appearance, and home run, for Leones del Caracas this winter.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6h q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>&#34;Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is a World Series champion, nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner,&#34; Rosenthal wrote. &#34;But for his mother, Yilda, something was missing. Perez had not played for her beloved Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6i q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">&#8220;Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez is a World Series champion, nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner,&#8221; Rosenthal wrote. &#8220;But for his mother, Yilda, something was missing. Perez had not played for her beloved Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6k q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p><em>If you like our content,&nbsp;<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\"><em><strong>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6l q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\"><em>If you like our content,\u00a0<\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\"><em><strong>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6n q:key=vcaa:\n\n<h2>Salvador Perez fulfilled his mother&#39;s dream with Venezuelan winter league performance<\/h2>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=6o q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">Salvador Perez fulfilled his mother&#8217;s dream with Venezuelan winter league performance<\/h2>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=6q q:key=vcaa:https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_5120,h_2880,x_0,y_0\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_royals\/01khf9bxvewrweascd9d--><!--qv q:id=6r q:key=VjqC:mL_1--><!--qv q:id=6s q:key=deAA:7d_2--><!--qv q:s q:sref=6s q:key=--><!--qv q:id=6t q:key=deAA:7d_1--><!--qv q:s q:sref=6t q:key=--><!--qv q:id=6u q:key=cHU9:7d_0--><!--qv q:id=6v q:key=deAA:e2_0--><!--qv q:id=6w q:key=B0c2:SZ_1--><\/p>\n<figure q:key=\"9m_3\" q:id=\"6x\"><!--qv q:s q:sref=6w q:key=--><!--qv q:s q:sref=6v q:key=--><\/p>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey undefined\" on:qvisible=\"q-DLMfQsY4.js#_hW[0]\" q:id=\"6y\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 1x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 2x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 1x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 2x, &#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 1x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 2x,&#10;    https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_5120,h_2880\/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01khf9bxvewrweascd9d.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\"><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><\/p>\n<p><figcaption q:id=\"70\">Sep 23, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA;  Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) smiles after catching a pop foul during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=71 q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>&#34;All that changed during the offseason, when Perez joined Caracas for the first time (previously he appeared for Zulia in 2022-23 and La Guaira in 2012-13 and 2013-14). To complete his mother&rsquo;s dream, he hit a three-run homer on Dec. 5, in the seventh inning of a 9-7 victory over Caracas&rsquo; longtime rival, Magallanes. Afterward, Yilda told him she was fulfilled, that he need not play winter ball again.&#34;<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=72 q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">&#8220;All that changed during the offseason, when Perez joined Caracas for the first time (previously he appeared for Zulia in 2022-23 and La Guaira in 2012-13 and 2013-14). To complete his mother\u2019s dream, he hit a three-run homer on Dec. 5, in the seventh inning of a 9-7 victory over Caracas\u2019 longtime rival, Magallanes. Afterward, Yilda told him she was fulfilled, that he need not play winter ball again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=74 q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>According to Rosenthal, Perez suffered a minor thumb injury that sidelined him for the rest of the winter league season. Next, he&#39;s set to play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Perez, alongside Brewers catcher William Contreras, will man the catcher&#39;s spot for Team Venezuela. Perez is likely to see more time at designated hitter than anything.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=75 q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">According to Rosenthal, Perez suffered a minor thumb injury that sidelined him for the rest of the winter league season. Next, he&#8217;s set to play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Perez, alongside Brewers catcher William Contreras, will man the catcher&#8217;s spot for Team Venezuela. Perez is likely to see more time at designated hitter than anything.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=77 q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p>To achieve his mother&#39;s wishes this late in his career is truly remarkable. Perez has achieved a lot in his incredible big league career. He&#39;s a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, and World Series champion, but being able to play for his mother&#39;s favorite winter league team likely ranks high up on his list of personal achievements.<\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=78 q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">To achieve his mother&#8217;s wishes this late in his career is truly remarkable. Perez has achieved a lot in his incredible big league career. He&#8217;s a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, and World Series champion, but being able to play for his mother&#8217;s favorite winter league team likely ranks high up on his list of personal achievements.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--qv q:key=QW_2--><!--qv q:id=7a q:key=vcaa:\n\n<p><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/royals\/onsi\/news\/royals-sign-all-star-pitcher-to-2-year-deal-after-heartbreaking-injury-zach3\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>Royals Sign All-Star Pitcher to 2-Year Deal After Heartbreaking Injury<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n--><!--qv q:id=7b q:key=lY4S:mL_1--><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\"><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/royals\/onsi\/news\/royals-sign-all-star-pitcher-to-2-year-deal-after-heartbreaking-injury-zach3\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>Royals Sign All-Star Pitcher to 2-Year Deal After Heartbreaking Injury<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><!--\/qv--><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Salvador Perez is one of the best players in Kansas City Royals history. There are few players in the organization&#8217;s history who have achieved as much as he has to this point. Perez still isn&#8217;t slowing down either, as he won a Silver Slugger award in 2024 and hit 30 home runs last season. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2282417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2282416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Royals-Slugger-Salvador-Perez-Quietly-Fulfilled-His-Mothers-Dreams.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2282416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2282418,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282416\/revisions\/2282418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2282417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2282416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2282416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2282416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}