Salvador Perez appears to be the greatest guy ever. He comes from a humble beginning, an only child of a single mother in Venezuela. He was discovered by Royals' scouts when he was very young. He is not completely fluent in English, but he is not afraid to speak. But those aren't the real reasons he appears to be so wonderful. These are the qualities that I admire:
1. Perez cares about others - when he swung and hit an opposing team's catcher with his bat in one game, he made sure the catcher was okay. Most ball players do not appear to care if they hurt a player on the opposing team.
2. Perez lightens his team's burden - always ready to dump ice water or Gatorade on whichever player shined during the game. No one is immune, including Ned Yost. Post-game reporters run to flee the dousing. And he throws the water on camera, so the audience can share in his child-like glee. And we fans love to see Perez' impish grin after etching dousing. He makes us all feel connected and sharing in his fun.
3. Perez doesn't quit - he is probably the most battered player, with wild pitches spinning towards his head or nether regions, bats shattering towards his face, slides tearing up his quads. He plays with everything he has no matter what. Even the stomach flu cannot stop Perez.
4. Perez does not exploit himself or allow the press to exploit him -We don't know his marital status, the name of his significant other, and that is refreshing. We respect his privacy. I don't care if he has twenty kids or fifteen wives. He is entitled to live his life however he wants.
Salvador Perez is a wonderful role model. He brings this baseball city together. He is a competitor, but stays above the fray. It's just refreshing for me, with my career filled conflict and strife, watch someone who handles to competition with such grace and honor. We can all learn something from this guy.
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