From Tyler Kepner's column about Salvador Perez:
Perez wears women's perfume for every game. One day, shortstop Alcides Escobar -- who said he wore it for good luck -- sprayed some on Perez's jersey and told him he would get four hits. The prophecy came true, Perez said, so he ordered a dozen boxes. His preferred brands are Victoria's Secret and 212 VIP.
Umpires, he said, are grateful.
"You smell good, my friend, thank you," they tell him, according to Perez. "We sweat, stink, you know. We need to put on something -- just on the field. A lot different off the field."
--snip--
Orlando Estevez, the Royals' Latin America scouting coordinator, took the lead on Perez and recommended he play catcher for the workout. Perez adapted so quickly that Moore was startled when he took a call from a special assistant during Perez's first professional stop, at the Arizona Rookie League in 2007.
"Bill Fischer called me and said, "I just saw the Venezuelan Johnny Bench,' " [Dayton] Moore said. "And I said, 'Who are you talking about?' "
The Royals signed Sandoval in 2006, but two years later he was still in the low minors. The Royals had the third pick in the 2008 draft, and took Eric Hosmer instead of Chris Sale ... or Buster Posey. You can play these games forever, but one does wonder what the Royals would have done with Perez and Posey.
As for Johnny Bench, everybody raves about Perez's defense ... but practically across the board, the metrics aren't nearly so friendly. That'll be something to watch over the next season or two.
Something else to watch: Will Perez hit? He's big and that power's probably not going away. But Perez is painfully impatient, and his 4-for-36 postseason comes on the heels of a .229/.236/.360 second half that included three (3) walks (walks).
