Fastball

Kansas City Royals Beloved Catcher Passes Hall of Famer in Baseball History

The Kansas City Royals swept the St. Louis Cardinals in a doubleheader on Wednesday as catcher Salvador Perez passed Hall of Famer Roy Campanella on an impressive list in baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) reacts after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on July 10.
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) reacts after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the sixth inning at Busch Stadium on July 10. / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez passed Hall of Famer Roy Campanella on an impressive list in baseball history on Wednesday as the Royals swept the Cardinals in a doubleheader.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most career HR - (Primary) catcher:
427- Mike Piazza
389- Johnny Bench
376- Carlton Fisk
358- Yogi Berra
324- Gary Carter
324- Lance Parrish
311- Ivan Rodriguez
282- Brian McCann
275- Jorge Posada
262- @Royals Salvador Perez (Via 2 in today's doubleheader vs STL)
260- Roy Campanella
260- Javy Lopez

In addition to Campanella, Perez also passed Javy Lopez, who was one of the best-hitting catchers of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The 34-year-old Perez has been among the top catchers in baseball over the last decade. Since debuting in 2011, Perez has hit the 262 career homers with 871 RBI. He's a nine-time All-Star after earning inclusion in the event again this year. Perez is also a five-time Gold Glover, a four-time Silver Slugger and a 2015 World Series MVP.

This year, he's showed no signs of slowing down, popping 16 homers with 59 RBI. He's hitting .279 and is a major reason why the Royals are in contention for their first playoff berth since 2015.

Entering play on Thursday, Kansas City is 53-40. They are in third place in the American League Central and they are just 0.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot.

They trail the Boston Red Sox in that race and the two teams will start a big series on Friday night at Fenway Park. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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