“Game Of His Life” tells the story of Pittsburgh athletes who may not have had the most illustrious, Hall of Fame level careers, but had one absolutely amazing game. In today’s edition, Michael Pérez.

I’ll be honest, in some of these editions, I maybe am stretching the definition of “Game Of His Life” just a little bit. I’ll have to do a little bit of explaining as to why I believe that truly was the best game of an otherwise mostly forgotten pro athlete.

But Michael Pérez? This guy made my job rather easy.

A career .179/.248/.306 (.554 OPS) hitter and a negative WAR player over his 202 games as a major league catcher, Pérez tallied 15 home runs and 61 RBI during his time in the bigs. He was never able to find consistency at the plate, but hey, he found a way to stick around for six years. That’s quite the accomplishment.

The Pirates claimed him off waivers after the 2020 season, and he played 70 games for the club during 2021, where he slashed 143/.221/.290. He was designated for assignment after the year, going unclaimed.

He was outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis in the offseason and stayed there to start the 2022 season. But after suffering some injuries at the catcher position in Pittsburgh, Pérez was recalled back to the bigs.

The Backstory

Pérez had become an important part of the roster ever since he had been recalled. From his May 7th promotion until the time of this game, Pérez appeared in 29 of 47 possible games behind the plate.

The bat had no improved. Over those 29 games, Pérez had slashed .129/.178/.235 in that time with the Pirates, and was coming off of a road trip that saw him go 2-for-14 and manage only two bases in five games.

But perhaps he was saving all that power for one crazy night, in a game where the Pirates would need everything he could possibly offer.

No one amongst that crowd of 14,134 on June 30th, 2022, knew it when the game started, but they were all about to witness history.

The Game

JT Brubaker took to the mound on a Thursday afternoon at PNC Park, kicking off the first of a six-game home stand. The Pirate righty would pitch opposite Brewers righty Adrian Houser.

Pérez, batting eighth,

For as much as this game is about his work standing next to the plate, the catcher had some good moments behind the dish as well. In the first inning, Rowdy Tellez hit a pitch right into the dirt in front of home plate for a fair ball. Pérez immediately sprang up and scooped the ball off the bounce, making for an easy throw to the first baseman to end the inning.

Though Pérez was responsible for the bulk of Pittsburgh’s offense that day, he was not the one to kick off the scoring. That honor belonged to Oneil Cruz, who lined one deep to center field for a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, scoring himself and Josh VanMeter to give the Pirates an early 2-0 lead.

Not to be outdone, Jack Suwinski hit a solo home run immediately after, extending the lead to 3-0. “The future is now!” broadcaster Joe Block called out after the second homer.

Suwinski’s bomb brought Pérez to the plate, still with no outs, and the Puerto Rican notched a ground ball single to right field for his first hit of the day. Unfortunately for Pérez, the bats had cooled down by that point, and three straight outs left Pérez stranded on first.

Pittsburgh’s lead was trimmed rather quickly though. Two extra-base hits, including a triple, got Brubaker into trouble early in the third, and Milwaukee would eventually score a pair to bring the score to 3-2.

In the third, Houser started to look off, and after an uncomfortable four pitch walk to Daniel Vogelbach, he could be seen flexing his throwing arm and hand as Vogelbach trotted to first. Brewers manager Craig Counsel and medical staff immediately came out to the mound, and it didn’t take long for Houser to come out of the game. He would land on the IL the next day and miss almost two months with a flexor strain.

In came Brent Suter, who got the final out of the third but would hardly go unscathed.

Milwaukee tied the game in the top of the fourth, with a pair of doubles bringing a third run across for the Brewers before Brubaker was able to limit the damage.

But Pérez didn’t allow the game to be tied for long. Coming to the plate with one out and Suwinski at first, Pérez got a hold of one just a little bit inside and sent it over the Clemente Wall in right for a two-run homer.

Brubaker would throw a clean top of the fifth, and although the Brewers committed an error in the bottom half, the Pirates couldn’t capitalize.

In the sixth, Andrew McCutchen (then of the brewers) started the inning off with a double. Brubaker, in the words of the Brewers’ broadcast, was being “doubled to death,” on the mound. Some small ball would bring Cutch in two batters later, threatening Pittsburgh’s lead.

Brubaker would last through the sixth, his final inning, with a 5-4 Pirates lead, and his battery mate would help add some insurance later that inning. After Suwinski got on base on a bloop infield single, Pérez was at the plate, facing new Brewers pitcher Jason Alexander.

On a 1-1 pitch nearly down the middle, Pérez got all of it, sending another one deep to right, this time several rows further, for his second two-run homer of the day.

Brewers catcher Omar Narváez knew it right away.

Pérez and Brubaker could be seen hugging in the dugout when the catcher returned.

Wil Crowe would toss a clean seventh for the Pirates, and Chris Stratton would pick up a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless eighth, with the Pirates still ahead 7-4. In the bottom half of that inning, Pérez was up to bat one last time.

Now facing Jandel Gustave, Pérez hit one right down the middle, Pérez smacked it to right again, his third straight hit over the Clemente Wall. The ball bounced off several rows of seats, eventually falling and tricking back into right field as Pérez rounded the bases triumphantly again.

Narváez hung his head again as soon as Pérez made contact.

Pérez’s legendary night put the Pirates up by four runs, but his solo shot in the eighth proved to be paramount for Pittsburgh.

David Bednar came on for the top of the ninth, entering the game with a 1.78 ERA. But he did not have it on this night.

Two of his first three batters notched singles, and a Willy Adames double put one run up. A Tellez groundout scored Christian Yelich from third, trading a run for an out.

Bednar then walked McCutchen, and he thought he had the game finished when Kolten Wong hit a ground ball to new first baseman Michael Chavis. However, on a sharp angle, Chavis could only knock the ball down and was unable to make the play at first, allowing another run to score. 8-7.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton had seen enough. He gave Bednar the hook and called upon rookie Yerry De Los Santos, who secured the final out and earned his second save in as many games.

Pittsburgh narrowly held on for the win, and the Bucs needed every one of Pérez’s five RBI in this one to pull out the victory.

Pérez made personal history, team history, and baseball history all in one night. His three home runs marked:

• His first (and only) three-homer game of his MLB career
• The first Pirates catcher to hit three home runs in a game
• The Pirates as the first MLB team to have three separate players have three-homer games in a single month (Jack Suwinski on June 19th, 2022 and Bryan Reynolds on June 29th, 2022)

“I just did my normal routine with Andy [Haines, then Pirates hitting coach],” Perez said after the game. “After BP, I went out there and competed.”

“I always believe in myself, that I can do my best every day,” he added. “All I saw in the dugout when I rounded third base was everybody smiling. It was good.”

The Aftermath

This game was truly one-in-a-million for Pérez. It was the finest moment of his big league career and his time in Pittsburgh, which rapidly came to an end.

Pérez would only play nine more games as a Pirate (going a measly 1-for-18 with three walks and three strikeouts) before the team designated him for assignment.

Upon acquiring right-handed reliever Colin Holderman from the New York Mets in exchange for Vogelbach, the team reinstated outfielder Greg Allen from the 60-Day IL and DFA’d Pérez to make room.

Though not officially a part of the Holderman trade, the Pirates did trade Pérez to New York the following day for cash considerations.

He played five games for the Syracuse Mets before he was recalled by New York. With the big league Mets, he went 2-for-14 with three RBI before he was sent back to Syracuse, where he ended the season. The following season, he appeared in three games for New York.

Since then, Pérez has bounced around different MLB organizations, but he has not yet played an MLB game since 2023. Most recently, Pérez played 19 games for Triple-A Reno (an affiliate of Arizona), where he slashed .273/.351/.424 before he was released in June.