Royals captain Salvador Perez reacts to Roberto Clemente Award win
10/28/2024 10:44 AM
Kansas City Royals catcher and 13-year MLB veteran Salvador Perez is the 2024 recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, Major League Baseball announced Monday morning. The honor is bestowed upon a player “who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field,” per the league’s statement.
Perez is the first Royals player to win the award. Like the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in the NFL, one player from all 30 MLB teams is nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award.
Perez won the award based on his efforts to help feed families in his native Venezuela and neighboring Colombia, along with his generous payments for dozens of children’s surgeries. He also made a $1 million donation to the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy and regularly provides equipment for children playing in a youth league Perez owns in his hometown of Valencia.
“When we do something, we do because it’s coming from my heart,” Perez said, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. “I don’t like to do things because somebody ask me to do it. When I sit with my mom and want to do something, we just do. We don’t have to post anything on social media. I don’t like that. If I do, I do it for my heart. I want to make people happy.”
“I’ve read a lot [about] Roberto Clemente. I know he was an amazing player, but he was even better outside the field,” Perez said. “So that made him super special and made this award super special.”
Perez joins a distinguished list of winners that includes 20 Hall of Famers. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees was the 2023 winner.
Salvador Perez, an unquestionable fan favorite
Few athletes have as close a bond to the city they play in as Salvador Perez does with Kansas City. Undoubtedly a Royals Hall of Fame player, Perez is typically all smiles on the field and is revered not only by Kansas City fans but by fans around the league.
He is the embodiment of what it means to be a Kansas City Royals player. The franchise gave him one of their highest honors by naming Perez the fourth captain in team history before the 2023 season.
Along with his phenomenal efforts off the field which earned him the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, Perez continues to light it up on the field during the tail end of his career. He was an MLB All-Star for the ninth time this year while helping lead the Royals to their first playoff appearance since 2015.
Salvador Perez is one of those universal good guys who is beloved by all. It is great to see him and all the nominated players being recognized for their humanitarian work.
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