Royals Superstar Quietly One-Upped George Brett For Franchise Record

When you take a glance at the Kansas City Royals' record book, you'll see the name George Brett just about everywhere you turn.

Brett has the Royals' best player ever by a long shot, racking up 3,154 hits and 13 All-Star appearances on the way to a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Few have ever stayed in Kansas City long enough and produced good enough results to challenge his statistics.

However, catcher Salvador Perez is slowly making progress in that regard.

Perez, the Royals' beloved nine-time All-Star and team captain, hit his 20th home run of the season on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays. According to MLB.com's Anne Rogers, he now has the franchise record with nine seasons of 20-plus home runs, one more than Brett.

“The most important thing is to win the game, win the World Series,” Perez said, per Rogers. “But yeah, I think everybody has personal goals. You feel better when we win, but I thank God to just let me do what I do every day and play baseball. I love what I do.

“To be around that kind of name -- George Brett is a Hall of Famer -- that means a lot to me.”

Perez may well join Brett in Cooperstown someday, but he's keeping his eye on a potential championship chase, and the Royals have done well to keep their narrow title hopes alive. The series win over the first-place Blue Jays got them back to .500, 3 1/2 games back of a wild-card spot.

If Perez can get over the 30-homer mark for just the second time in his career, it would go a long way toward bringing Kansas City back to October.

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