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KANSAS CITY -- Salvador Perez is a nine-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He has won the World Series, a World Series MVP Award and, just this past spring, won gold at the World Baseball Classic with Team Venezuela. He was honored with the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award. He’s the fourth captain in Royals history. At 308 career home runs, he very likely will surpass George Brett this season for the Royals’ all-time home run record (317). There’s a strong argument to be made that Perez should be headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame whenever he does hang up his cleats. That is quite the resume, but for his mom, Yilda Diaz, something was missing. Perez hadn’t played for her beloved Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League. She told Perez that before he retires, if he had the opportunity, she would like to see him play for Caracas. He had previously played for La Guaira and Zulia, but Caracas is her team in Venezuela. So, Perez said, “We made it happen.” On Dec. 5, Perez hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning of a 9-7 victory over Caracas’ longtime rival, Magallanes. Yilda, of course, was in the stands. “She told me after that that if I don’t want to play anymore, we can go home,” Perez said with a smile. |
Courtesy: Instagram/elextrabase |
When Yilda told Perez of her wish to see him suit up for Caracas, it was a no-brainer for him to try to find a way onto the team. It was the least he could do. All of those baseball accomplishments listed above? None of that would have happened without his mom. “Without my mom doing what she did, I don’t think I’d be here,” Perez said. From a young age, Perez knew how hard his mother worked as he grew up in Valencia, Venezuela. She worked 12-hour days at various jobs, leaving Perez in the care of his grandmother so Yilda could support the family. While Perez knew Yilda was always working, he didn’t fully appreciate all that she did until later. This Sunday is Mother’s Day, but Perez tries to thank his mom every day for the work she did. Perez’s work ethic and passion are two of his greatest attributes. He has Yilda to thank for that. “I don’t think you appreciate it until you start to grow up,” Perez said. “When you start to work for yourself or for your family, when things are hard, that’s when you realize that your mom did a pretty good job for you and that she was working hard. I try to thank her every day for the things she did for me. I realize it was hard for her. “She’s definitely one of my inspirations. I’ve got my kids and my wife, too. But it’s like, ‘If she can do it, why can I not do it?’ She fought as hard as she could, so I can get through a lot, too. When it gets hard, just keep going. She’s one of my inspirations every day.” |
Perez was an energetic kid, so he began to play baseball to get all that energy out and keep him out of trouble after school. He fell in love with the game, and his mom encouraged him to play -- but not without reminding him that he needed an education, too. “She wanted me to graduate from high school,” Perez said. “She knew that I loved baseball a lot, and she said, ‘OK, give me some good grades -- As and Bs -- and I’ll take you to baseball. C, D, F -- you’re not going to baseball.’” Perez understood that and put his focus onto both baseball and his studies. In 2006, Perez attended a baseball tryout in hopes of signing with a Major League team. Perez was an infielder back then, but the scouts had him get behind the plate to see what he looked like there. One of the scouts was Orlando Estevez, who still works in the Royals’ pro scouting department today. He was impressed with Perez; the rest, of course, is history. The Royals gave Perez a $65,000 signing bonus. He turned around and gave it to Yilda. “I gave her the check,” Perez said. “We grew up in the bad part of Valencia, so the first thing she did was buy a house in a different, better, safer part. And since that, thank God they gave me the opportunity, and I worked hard and made it to the big leagues. We made a little bit of money. She doesn’t have to work.” |
Courtesy: Instagram/elextrabase |
As Perez worked his way through the Minor Leagues and eventually into the big leagues, Yilda was there with him every step of the way. Together, they started a foundation in Venezuela that serves over 200 kids in the neighborhood where Perez grew up, and they provide well-kept fields, professional coaches, equipment for the players and financial support for the families. Yilda is the president of the foundation. “We try to help the kids think about school and baseball, just like my mom told me,” Perez said. “When they’re 14 or 15, if they sign, good. But at least they have something else that’s more important than anything else, and that’s the education so they can decide what’s good and what’s bad. That’s the goal of the foundation.” It’s not hard to see the influence Yilda has had on Perez in the way he speaks about her. He’s one of the greatest players in Royals history and revered around the game. But his mom has never left his side. She still makes him arepas, his favorite dish, and coffee in the morning. “I thank God that he sent me the mom that I have because I know she fought for me the way that I do now for her,” Perez said. “Because she deserves it. She means so much to me.” |
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