When Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez clubbed his second home run of the night—off Chicago Cubs pitcher Hector Rondon—during the eighth inning of Tuesday’s Game 1 of the World Series, he became just the fifth catcher with a multi-homer game in the Fall Classic, per MLB Stat of the Day.
The backstop amassed four RBI in the game on the two shots, accounting for two-thirds of the run production for the Indians. In the process of doing so, he entered rare territory, joining Yogi Berra, Gene Tenace, Johnny Bench and Gary Carter as the only catchers with multi-homer games in the World Series.
Interestingly enough, Perez isn’t known as much of a power hitter. His multi-homer performance Tuesday was his first at any professional level, and Perez had collected just three home runs over 153 at-bats during the 2016 regular season, per ESPN Stats & Info.
He returned to his light-hitting way in Wednesday’s Game 2 defeat, recording one walk and three outs in four plate appearances.
Prior to the trade deadline, Cleveland felt the need to address the catcher position, which was considered a point of weakness. The team worked out a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for catcher Jonathan Lucroy just prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, but he vetoed the trade and was ultimately dealt to another playoff contender in the Texas Rangers.
While Perez didn’t make much of an impact for Cleveland in the regular season or during the first two rounds of the playoffs offensively, his presence was surely felt in a 6-0 Cleveland win that gave the Indians a 1-0 series lead.
He’s also caught every game of the postseason thus far, including a record-tying four shutouts. Should the team manage to record another shutout during the World Series, Cleveland would become the first squad ever with five in a single postseason.
With Yan Gomes set to rejoin the club next season, the catcher position is in pretty good hands. While Perez is on a one-year deal, he’s still under team control through 2021. Although the Tribe didn’t get Lucroy, Cleveland fans are probably happy just where they are.
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