Kansas City Royals’ Salvador Perez hits 45th homer, tying Johnny Bench’s record
Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez’s best offensive season of his career reached a historic Benchmark.
Perez, a seven-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, has put himself among the most exclusive company as far as power-hitting seasons for a catcher in Major League Baseball history. Perez smashed his 45th home run of the season in the first inning of Thursday afternoon’s game against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.
That 428-foot blast, which landed in the left-center field stands, matched Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for the most home runs in a single season by a primary catcher (having played at least 75% of their games as a catcher).
“It’s an honor to tie Johnny Bench, one of the greatest catchers in baseball,” Perez said. “I’ve gotten the opportunity to meet him a lot at the Gold Glove ceremonies. He’s a great guy. It’s good. I feel happy to be with the greatest. A lot of blessings for God to put me in that position.
“I’m so happy. We didn’t win today, but for me it’s an honor to be there.”
Bench, a 14-time All-Star and two-time MVP, set his mark of 45 homers in 1970 as a 22-year-old with the Cincinnati Reds.
Perez said he first met Bench when Perez won his first of five Gold Glove awards. He took home the American League honor in 2013-16 and again in 2018. Perez missed the entire 2019 season following elbow surgery.
“He’s got 10 Gold Gloves,” Perez said. “It’s an honor. Every time you go to that ceremony you see a lot of great players, Hall of Fame players, and the only thing that comes into my mind is hopefully I can be one of these guys and people are going to remember me for the rest of my life. So it’s something that I want to do. I just need to do my job, try to stay healthy and finish my career hard.”
In the official record count per the Elias Sports Bureau, Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez holds the American League record for single-season home runs by a player while in the lineup as a catcher with 35 homers in 1999.
Bench hit 38 of his homers in 1970 while playing catcher.
“We’ve said it a number of times now, we’re witnessing a special season,” Royals manager Mike Matheny, a former three-time Gold Glove-winning catcher said. “We’re witnessing a special player and a special season. As much as the 45 is impressive, whenever you’re thrown in the conversation with who most would say is the greatest in the history of the position and to be able to be put into that conversation with some of the things you’re achieving is exceptionally rare.
“But how he’s going about it all the way around [is impressive.] He’s helping to teach these guys what winning looks like by how he prepares, how he competes. He just continues to put together a very, very impressive season.”
This season, Perez has hit 15 home runs while in the lineup as the designated hitter — as was the case on Thursday — therefore 30 of his home runs count toward the official record for catchers.
Perez also tied Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the MLB lead in home runs. Perez entered the day already leading the majors in RBIs, and the two-run smash increased his total to 112 through the first inning on Thursday.
Los Angeles Angels star pitcher-designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is third in the majors with 44 home runs.
The Blue Jays had a day off on Thursday, and Ohtani did not homer in the Angels’ game on Thursday.
Perez, 31, also moved into a tie with Royals legend Mike Sweeney for second place on the Royals career home run list with 197. The only player in franchise history with more home runs than Perez is Hall of Famer George Brett with 317.
Perez said he learned a lot from Sweeney, who serves as a special assistant to baseball operations for leadership development.
Specifically, Perez mentioned how Sweeney took care of people, how he took care of himself, how he played the game and his desire to win.
He then added with a smile, “Sorry Sweeney. I think I’m going to pass you.”
Perez’s previous single-season high for homers had been 27, which he did in 2017 and 2018.
He said his initial goal had been to hit 30 homers this season, simply because he’d never reached that mark before.
In 56 games since the All-Star break this season, Perez has now hit 24 home runs.
The Royals have 16 games remaining this season. Perez also sits just three back of Jorge Soler’s single-season franchise record of 48 homers set in 2019.
“It’s a special season for me,” Perez said. “All the work I put in in the offseason, it’s about working and preparing yourself. Thank God for keeping me healthy and giving me opportunities every day.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
