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

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.