Sal Perez 1st Royals recipient of Roberto Clemente Award for service and philanthropy

Recognized with Major League Baseball's highest honour for character, community involvement and philanthropy, Salvador Perez wanted fellow major leaguers to know contributing even a little time to charitable work can go a long way.

"I know sometimes we're tired and we like to enjoy the off day at home," the Kansas City catcher said Monday after receiving the Roberto Clemente Award. "I get it. But just for two or three hours one day every month, just one day out of 30 days, 31 days, just one day go have fun, go make some kid happy. They're never, never going to forget that."

A nine-time all-star and 2015 World Series MVP, the 34-year-old Perez received the award before World Series Game 3 on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

"The good works that this man does are really unbelievable," baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said.

Perez and his family distribute bags of food and kitchen supplies to 2,000 homes each off-season 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.

"When I was growing up it was hard to buy supplies like bats and baseballs," he said. "That's the one me and my mom talked about, like we should create like a Little League team. We got 220 kids in Venezuela. So we bring everything. They don't have to pay for anything. So I think that's the one really near my heart. I know how hard it is to get things like that in Venezuela."

Perez has paid for dozens of surgeries for kids with cleft lips, he's given more than 1,000 toys to children's hospitals and has 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 US 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 in 158 games this past season with 27 homers and 104 RBI in 158 games for the Royals, who made the playoffs for the first time since winning their second 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 major league debut in 2011.

He intends to keep the award next to his bed.

"After winning a World Series, this is the second-best award I ever got," Perez said. "I got some Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger, World Series MVP, but this means a lot to me."