The Kansas City Royals announced prior to today’s season-opening game that Salvador Perez has been named team Captain. Perez, 32, joins Royals Hall of Famers George Brett (1989-93), Frank White (1989-90) and Mike Sweeney (2003-07) as the only team Captains in club history.
“Salvy is a Royals icon, a Kansas City icon, and a baseball icon,” said Royals Executive Vice President and General Manager, J.J. Picollo. “This honor reflects not just his place in Royals history, but just as importantly the work he puts in and the leadership he provides our organization.”
Perez is a seven-time American League All-Star, a five-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a two-time Royals Les Pilgram Player of the Year. Salvy was unanimously named the MVP of the 2015 World Series, and enters the 2023 season among the Royals all-time leaders in home runs (223, 2nd), RBI (732, 7th), extra-base hits (470, 7th), total bases (2,201, 8th), doubles (236, 9th) and hits (1,274, 8th).
His seven All-Star selections are the 2nd most in Royals history, trailing only Brett’s 13.
Salvy matched a single-season Royals record with 48 home runs in 2021, a total that tied for the Major League lead. He also led the Majors with 121 RBI that year, becoming the sixth different player in 30 years to lead the Majors in both categories. His 48 homers set a Major League single-season record by a player who played at least 75% of his games at catcher, passing the previous mark set by Hall of Famer Johnny Bench (45) in 1970.
In 2021, Perez was named the Royals Roberto Clemente Award nominee. The following year, in 2022, he won the prestigious Lou Gehrig Award, presented annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the giving character of the late Hall of Famer.
Photo credit – Jeffrey Hyde / Wikimedia Commons
