Even on his day off, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez cannot say no to a game — especially if it is Wiffle ball with a bunch of children.
The nine-time MLB All-Star was driving through a neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, on Thursday when he spotted some kids playing in a backyard.
Perez stopped the car, jumped out and asked: “Hey, can I play with you guys?”
Photo: AP
It took them a moment to realize who was asking in on their game.
The mother of one of the children, Lesley Lard, posted on social media a clip of Perez — dressed not in his crisp Royals uniform, but a casual long-sleeve T-shirt and shorts — taking a mighty swing and then scurrying around the bases.
“One of my friends invited me for lunch, and you know, it was my off day — I say off day and I played like, three innings,” Perez said while sitting in the dugout before Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. “I saw them and turned around my car, got out and told these kids: ‘Hey, can I play with you guys?’ And now it’s a highlight.”
“They went crazy,” he added with a smile. “They were like: ‘Oh, my God. It’s Salvy. Come hit with us.’”
After speaking to reporters about the Wiffle ball game, Perez homered and drove in three as they beat Philadelphia 7-4.
The 34-year-old Perez has spent his entire 13-year big-league career in Kansas City.
“Good for him, because that’s an incredible memories for those kids,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of the kids’ game. “We see him out there with a huge smile on his face every night. Now he brought that to those kids as well. So it’s really special.”
The children were actually using a variation of a Wiffle ball called a Blitzball, which is like the traditional white ball with holes punched in it, but curves even more. It turned out to be harder to hit than Perez thought.
“They struck me out one time,” he said with a laugh. “It’s hard to hit that ball. I don’t know. They move.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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