Salvador Perez
No, those bald spots on the Lard family’s yard in suburban Kansas City are NOT the result of negligence or pestilence. Instead, the dirt patches are a tell that the yard has hosted countless Wiffle Ball games for the neighborhood kids, who nicknamed it The Sandlot. But when Royals catcher Salvador Perez happened by and decided on a whim to join them, it became their Field of Dreams.
“He’s not taking one day for granted,” teammate Bobby Witt Jr. says of the player known as Salvy. “He’s playing the game like it’s his last day to play. It’s amazing. I wish everyone would get to play with Salvy.”
Wish granted for Cameron Lard and his friends.
Salvy was headed home on an off day after having lunch with a friend when he spotted the kids playing. “I was in my car and thought, ‘should I stop or not?’ You know me. I like to make kids happy,” Salvy says. “I tell myself, ‘Stop and say hi to these kids.’ So, I just stop, get out of my car and say, ‘Hey, guys, can I play with you guys?'”
Their mouths opened wide, he says, and they yelled, “That’s Salvy! That’s, Salvy! Yeah come and play with us.”
Cameron’s dad, Terry, and a neighbor grabbed their phones. His mom, Lesley, shared the event with the world on social media. The videos capture the bald spots in all their glory as Salvy rounds the bases with a homer. The pitcher, young Henry Golubski, says he, “gave him one down the middle,” but Salvy quickly added that he also struck out. Hitting the Blitzball the kids used, he says, “was kind of hard. That ball moves a lot.”
At Salvy’s request, Lesley also took a group photo, showing kids aged 7 or 8 to early teens gathered around the Royals catcher. “It reminded me where I come from,” Salvy says. “It was pretty cool, one of the best moments of my career, playing with these guys and seeing all these kids happy. It means a lot to me.”
A few days later, Salvy sent a friend to The Sandlot with a signed bat. He then video chatted with the players, saying, “You’re supposed to wait for me to play!”
The Royals didn’t seem surprised in the least that their captain and this year’s recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award for his humanitarian efforts would spontaneously spread joy and goodwill. World Series MVP, nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glover, Salvy is a member of Sarah’s Soldiers, raising money to cure ALS. He also donated $1 million to help found K.C.’s Urban Youth Academy. This summer, he hosted a baseball clinic for more than 100 kids from the city’s underserved neighborhoods, then sent each one home with a backpack full of school supplies.
“There’s so much respect he’s garnered from everybody in the game, and I think that’s from the way he treats people,” Royals Executive Vice President and General Manager J.J. Picollo says. “But I think more than anything else, he connects with our fans and our community better than anybody else.”
In ways that mirror and honor Stan’s legacy.
His projects span continents as well. He has worked with his mom, Yilda Díaz, to aid more than 10,000 families over the past decade with food and supplies in their hometown of Valencia, Venezuela, where he also set up a baseball academy. He has paid for dozens of surgeries for children with cleft lips and annually gives more than 1,000 toys to children’s hospitals.
“What makes me really happy is when kids say, ‘I want to be like you,” Salvy says. “I tell myself ‘if all these kids are trying to be like you, you’re doing a pretty good job.'”