KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Six-year-old Austin Watson has a passion for baseball and it’s good that he does considering he has been compared to Salvador Perez for more than just his play.
“I knew I looked like him when my mom said at the house ‘you look like Salvy,'” Austin said.
It wasn’t long after Austin strapped on the catcher’s gear that he and his parents, Waymon and Talia Watson, began hearing how much he looked like the Royals star.
“The 2015 World Series parade people at the parade started asking questions. He had the same haircut, wore the same Salvador Perez uniform, so people would want to take pictures with him,” Waymon said.
The resemblance is so striking, the team invited the Watson family to Kauffman Stadium for a tour. But what Austin didn’t know is that he is really here to meet his favorite player, Salvy.
“What’s up, amigo?” Salvy said as he emerged from the batting cages. “You’re now Little Salvy. Little Salvy,” he said to Austin.
“It’s unbelievable. That was me when I was 5 years old. I looked like you,” Salvy said.
After greeting the Watson family, Salvy escorted Austin and his father to the clubhouse where he got to meet players such as Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar, and Lorenzo Cain.
Austin at with Salvy at his locker where Perez gave him some batting gloves, a signed baseball, and one of his baseball bats.
“From the 2015 World Series champions and we’re in the clubhouse along with the players, shaking their hands, and seeing how the interact from day to day. It’s a memory we will take forever,” Waymon said.
