KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- At age 25, Kansas City Royals http://www.authenticyankeesshop.com/authentic-3-babe-ruth-jersey.html catcher Salvador Perez has three All-Star Game appearances and two Gold Gloves in his hip pocket. He's a team leader with a big motor and an infectious sense of humor. Last year in the postseason, Perez generated an abundance of laughs when it was revealed that he likes to wear perfume behind the plate. He checks a lot of boxes -- tangible and otherwise. As such, it seems a bit incongruous when Perez appears on the national stage and one particular storyline dominates the conversation: Media members can't get enough of asking him about his pain threshold. Perez slugged four homers in 41 trips to Zdeno Chara Authentic Jersey the plate against Houston and Toronto in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He also spent an inordinate amount of time wincing and doubling over to catch his breath and shake off the pain. When Perez wasn't taking foul tips off the mask, cup or chest protector, the Kansas City trainer was coming out to tend to him after a Josh Donaldson swing accidentally clocked him on the glove hand. It was telling before Game 5 of the American League Championship Series when Perez took a seat in the interview room and six of the seven questions posed to him were about the physical pounding he takes on a daily basis. Inquiring minds want to know: What hurts more -- a foul tip off the mask or the sting of a bat on a follow-through? Does Perez ever feel snakebitten by the beating he absorbs? Has he ever sought advice from Sandy Alomar Jr. and other rangy catchers about the special challenges they encounter behind the plate? Yes, as it turns out. "Alomar told me, 'Sal, there's nothing we Wayne Gretzky Youth Jersey can do about that. You're going to get hit no matter what,''' Perez said. "We're tough. We are big guys. I think it's more easy to get hit than the little guys." As the Royals prepare to face the New York Mets in the World Series, Perez's impact on team performance and morale transcends his hulking 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame. Alex Gordon is the longest-tenured Royal, Lorenzo Cain is an MVP candidate and Eric Hosmer has perennial All-Star written all over him. But Perez, in many respects, is the backbone of Kansas City's back-to-back American League pennant winners. "He's a very charismatic person, and he leads by example,'' Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "His passion to play and desire to compete every night overcome a lot of those sprains, strains and contusions." These are the qualities that stood out when Rene Francisco and Kansas City's Latin scouting contingent scoped out a 16-year-old Salvador Perez in 2006 during a tryout at a Venezuelan military base. According to one humorous account of the workout, a soldier at the base was holding a German shepherd on a leash, and the dog broke free and chased Perez while he was running the 60-yard dash. Within hours of the tryout, scouts Orlando Estevez and Juan Indriago were at Perez's house, sitting across the table from the young catcher and his mother with an offer. The Royals were prepared to give Perez a signing bonus of $65,000 before sweetening the pot with an additional $5,000 to consummate the agreement. It didn't take long for Moore to realize http://www.authenticlakersstore.com/authentic-32-magic-johnson-jersey.html the Royals had hit the jackpot. Bill Fischer, a senior adviser with the team, picked up the phone after watching Perez play in the Arizona Rookie League in 2007 and told Moore, "I've just seen the Latin Johnny Bench.'' Fischer, the embodiment of the crusty baseball lifer, is not a man typically inclined to hyperbole.