Royals C Salvador Perez urges Kansas City police to release fan who pulled record-tying HR ball from fountain
Salvador Perez tied the Kansas City Royals’ all-time home run record on Wednesday. What happened next became a legal matter.
With his 317th career long ball, the 36-year-old Perez tied George Brett for the record in Kansas City. Facing San Francisco Giants starter Landen Roupp in the seventh inning, he took a center-cut sinker and deposited it in the fountains at Kaufmann Stadium.
While much of the attention was understandably focused on Perez in the moment, it turns out a fan jumped into the fountain to retrieve the historic ball.
Such mementos are usually the legal property of the fan who catches or first obtains the ball, but the Royals’ website clearly states the fountains are off-limits for fans: “If at any time a guest enters a fountain, they will be immediately arrested, transported to the police station downtown and charged to the fullest extent of the law.”
So the fan was soon arrested and escorted out of the stands, with the ball confiscated.
Jail? Eh. Jumping in the fountains after Salvy’s record-tying home-run ball? Priceless! pic.twitter.com/W8bLyHed7j
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) July 22, 2026
The gentleman that got the Salvy HR ball jumped in the Fountain.. and, by rule, got arrested. So, no ball.. an attendant procured it. (TT: Colinwhite.18) pic.twitter.com/iaoiBST4O0
— Harold R. Kuntz (@HaroldRKuntz3) July 22, 2026
Perez was informed of the fan’s fate after the game and urged the police to release the fan:
“Please, police, just take care of the job please and send him home. If I was him, I’d maybe jump too and try to get that ball, so please. And thank you for the hard work in trying to get that ball.
On that front, the Kansas City Police Department told Fox 4 Kansas City that “an individual was cited and released for trespassing in the fountain.”
The wait now begins for Perez to claim sole ownership of the all-time home run record for a franchise that first signed him in 2006. There’s no chance of another fountain drama if he does it soon, as the Royals began a 10-game road trip on Thursday.
