Salvador Perez hit his 318th career home run Saturday in Detroit, passing George Brett for the most in Kansas City Royals history.
Salvador Perez stood alone atop Royals history on Saturday afternoon in Detroit.
With Kansas City down a run in the seventh inning at Comerica Park, the 36-year-old catcher got a slider from Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan and sent it 401 feet over the left field wall for the 318th home run of his career, the most any player has ever hit in a Royals uniform.
George Brett had held the record for 40 years, and it fell in the same ballpark where Perez hit his first career homer as a rookie back in August 2011.
His teammates waited for him in the dugout, where he moved through a long line of hugs and handshakes before flashing that familiar smile and turning his eyes skyward.
The homer tied the game at 2-2, Nick Loftin added a solo shot in the ninth, and Michael Wacha's seven strong innings carried the Royals to a 3-2 win.
Perez had tied the record on Wednesday against the Giants, then went two games without one before finishing the chase in Detroit.
A Down Year
Nothing about this season suggested a celebration like this was coming.
Perez opened up about his struggles earlier this month, admitting the hits were not coming while he sat at .209 with 11 home runs at the All-Star break.
The bat has warmed up since, and his 15 home runs now include three in his last seven games, giving him at least that many in 11 straight full seasons.
At 36 and in his 15th big league year, he keeps supplying power for a Kansas City team that sits at 44-62 in last place in the AL Central, while the Tigers dropped to 50-55 with the loss.
Saturday's win also came without Bobby Witt Jr., who remains on the injured list with back soreness.
Why This One Means So Much in Kansas City
Perez signed with the Royals out of Venezuela at 16 and has never worn another uniform, collecting nine All-Star nods, five Gold Gloves, and the 2015 World Series MVP along the way.
He and Brett are the faces of the two best eras this franchise has known, and both of its championships, 1985 and 2015, belong to their teams.
Brett, who took the record from Amos Otis in 1986, gave his blessing last month, saying "if anybody was going to break it, I'm glad it's him."
Manager Matt Quatraro went further after Wednesday's game, telling reporters "the guy's a Hall of Famer, and you're getting to witness it."
Perez already passed Brett for the Kauffman Stadium record in June, so Saturday felt less like a surprise and more like a finish line.
His 318 homers are the seventh most by a catcher in MLB history, and every catcher ahead of him on that list except Lance Parrish is in the Hall of Fame.
"Kansas City is my second home," Perez said after tying the mark, and he is signed through 2027, which leaves him plenty of time to push the record somewhere nobody reaches it for a long while.
