Royals catcher Salvador Perez wins MLB's Clemente Award for philanthropy

NEW YORK — Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has been named the winner of Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award for character, community involvement and philanthropy.

The award was to be presented to the nine-time All-Star and 2015 World Series MVP before Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night.

Perez and his family distribute bags of food and kitchen supplies to 2,000 homes each winter in the neediest parts of his hometown of Valencia, Venezuela, directly impacting more than 10,000 families over the past decade. He has a youth baseball league there, providing equipment for the kids and financial support for their families.

The 34-year-old Perez has paid for dozens of surgeries for kids with cleft lips, given more than 1,000 toys to children’s hospitals and supported police officers. He regularly travels to Colombia to assist the Carlos Fortuna Foundation in helping adults be the best parents they can be, and he crossed the border on foot to get there when strict travel guidelines were in place during the COVID-19 shutdown.

In the United States, Perez has partnered with organizations fighting against Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and he works with Kansas-based Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer. Perez made a $1 million foundational donation to the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy, one of MLB’s 11 youth academies, matching the largest ever for the academy.

Clemente, a Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972, while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

Perez batted .271 with 27 homers and 104 RBIs in 158 games this season for the Royals, who made the playoffs for the first time since their only World Series title in 2015. Perez is a five-time Gold Glove winner and .267 career hitter in 1,552 games, all with the Royals since his big league debut in 2011.