DETROIT -- Salvador Perez now stands alone among royalty.
Three days after tying George Brett’s franchise record for most home runs in Royals history with his 317th home run, Perez hit his 318th career homer on Saturday afternoon against the Tigers at Comerica Park and took sole possession of Kansas City’s home run record.
Of course, he did it in only the way Salvy can: He got the Royals back into the game.
Down one run in the top of the seventh inning, Perez hit a slider from Tigers reliever Kyle Finnegan a Statcast-projected 401 feet out to left field for the record-breaking milestone home run, the game-tying blast in the Royals’ eventual 3-2 win.
“I always say,” Perez said with his signature grin, “it’s better when we win the game.”
Perez jogged the bases slowly on Saturday, the Tigers giving him his moment, and his entire team approached him in the dugout in a line of handshakes, high-fives and hugs for their captain. They’d all been waiting for this.
“Since I tied the record in Kansas City, the last few days, I hear people everywhere we go. 'One more, one more,'” Perez said. “It’s kind of hard to not think about it. I didn’t try to hit a homer. Just try to put a good swing and see what happens.”
After the game, all of Perez’s teammates stood behind him as he joined ROYALS.TV for an interview. After that, a clubhouse celebration awaited. Everybody packed into the locker room. The injured Royals in Kansas City -- like Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia -- were on FaceTime.
Perez gave a speech alongside longtime coach Miguel Garcia. Catcher Luke Maile spoke on behalf of the team. Maile has done this kind of thing before, and he leads about half of the Royals' postgame win celebrations, but this one will stick with him.
“I’m a blip on the radar here, rightfully so, and he’s such a legend,” Maile said. “But there’s been quite a few moments with him when you know you’re seeing something special. He’s a good person. He’s someone that inspires you to want to be a big leaguer and show up for work every day. What an honor it is to be around him, to see the dedication and the toughness he’s put in through the years.”
Perez is the third active player to own his current team’s all-time home run record, joining Mike Trout (422 with the Angels) and Manny Machado (216 with the Padres).
Perez’s 318 home runs are the seventh most by a catcher in Major League history (min. 50% of games at the position), trailing Mike Piazza (427), Johnny Bench (389), Carlton Fisk (376), Yogi Berra (358), Lance Parrish (324) and Gary Carter (324).
All but Parrish on that list ahead of Perez are in the Hall of Fame.
“I didn’t think I’d make it that far in my career,” Perez said. “A lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work.”
Comerica Park was the same place Perez hit his first home run, all the way back on Aug. 29, 2011, against Max Scherzer. It took Perez parts of six seasons to hit career home run No. 100, which came on June 10, 2017. And then, the power just kept coming. On Sept, 29, 2021, he hit his 200th career homer, which happened to be his 48th of the season -- matching the Royals' single-season home run record.
That’s when the idea of chasing Brett’s record really started to materialize.
Perez hit his 300th career homer -- and 1,000th career RBI -- on Sept. 13, 2025. He entered '26 just 14 away from tying Brett and 15 from breaking the record.
The chase was on, even if it took him a little longer than one might have expected due to a slow start and a down offensive year.
But this is Salvador Perez, and if you’ve learned anything about the Venezuelan backstop in his 15-year Major League career and two decades in this organization, it’s this: Never count him out.
Everyone has a Salvy story, and it usually revolves around his work ethic or passion for the game. He’s the first to arrive and last to leave from Day 1 of Spring Training to the final day of the season. Every offday requires a fight because he is adamant about playing every day.
Perez has always been like this, said the people who have known him for the past two decades. He’s never taken anything for granted, certainly not the opportunity to play baseball. It allowed him to leave Valencia, Venezuela, where his mom, Yilda Diaz, worked 12-hour days to keep the family afloat and put Perez in baseball to work off his energy. The Royals signed him for $65,000 in 2006. At 16 years old, he gave the check to his mom to buy a new house and vowed to make her proud.
Perez was stateside the next year. He was never a top prospect. He was never a hitting prospect. His glove made him noticeable.
Something changed in 2010. That spring, general manager J.J. Picollo remembers standing behind the cage with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer on a backfield in Surprise, Ariz.
“Salvy was hitting balls across the street and pulling everything,” Picollo said. “I looked at Seitz and said, ‘That was way different.’ Before, it was sort of slow, kid strength. Then it became legit.”
Perez debuted a year later, on Aug. 10, 2011. Everyone around the league took notice of his defense. Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro watched from afar and jokingly asked why the Royals even had a backup catcher.
Future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina told a young pitcher in St. Louis to watch Perez behind the plate when the Royals came to town.
“He doesn’t say that about too many guys,” starter Michael Wacha said. “He was one of Salvy’s biggest fans from afar and said he was the real deal.”
As Perez evolved, everyone started watching him at the plate, too. The power numbers surged. He came through in clutch moments in Royals history. He established himself as an all-time great Royal, not only because of his numbers, but because he stuck around.
No. 318 will live forever now in the record books, but so will the qualities that allowed Perez to reach it. The grind, the loyalty, the joy. None of it has wavered.
How will he celebrate this moment?
“We’ve got a game tomorrow,” Perez said.