CREATING HIS OWN STORY
When former major league outfielder Robert Perez rides his bicycle through the streets of his native Venezuela, he doesn’t get far before he is interrupted.
“It’s like I’m the mayor,” Perez said in Spanish. “Everyone wants to say ‘hello.’”
There have been better Venezuelan baseball players than Perez, with Ronald Acuña Jr., Miguel Cabrera and Felix Hernandez being but three prominent examples.
But perhaps no one is more beloved than Perez, who incredibly played 27 years in the Venezuelan League, all of those winters for Lara, before retiring in 2015 at age 45.
His youngest son, Hedbert Perez, may not ever be as popular as his dad, who has a street named after him in Venezuela.
