Humble beginnings drove David Peralta to earn D-backs extension

David Peralta’s contract extension with the Arizona Diamondbacks was lauded by many as a team-friendly deal. Peralta seemed OK with that.

The start of his baseball career saw him on the mound — not patrolling an outfield — and he eventually wound up pitching in independent ball. Since then, he’s converted to an outfielder and risen through the D-backs organization to reach the major leagues, and becoming a winner of both a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award.

Peralta officially agreed to a three-year deal this week worth a reported $22 million.

“If you think about it, like five, six years ago, seven years ago, I was working at McDonald’s, trying to find a way, trying to figure out how I’m going to play baseball, how I’m going to make it to the big league and everything,” Peralta told Doug & Wolf on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station on Wednesday.

“It’s hard for me not to take that opportunity to keep doing what I’m doing, to keep playing the game that I love to play. And like I said, I know where I’m coming from. I know what I went through to get this opportunity. And it’s basically with the team I want to be, that me and my family feel comfortable with, that we love it. I don’t think it was a hard decision for us to make.”

The 2020 season will be Peralta’s seventh in the majors, all with Arizona. He’ll reach nine if he plays out this contract with the D-backs. In talking to Doug & Wolf, the possibility of playing his whole career in the Valley drew comparisons to longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan and Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

“I just got goosebumps about that. I like it. That sounds great to me. That would mean a lot to me,” Peralta said. “If that happened, I’m going to take it with pride and I’m going to keep working on it. I’m going to keep doing my best to make this team proud and to help the team the way I know I can do.

“I want to be part of this organization for as long as I can. If I can be for the rest of my career, I’d be happy for that. This organization gave to me so much, and give me the opportunity to be where I am right now to make my dream come true.”

But the theme of humility often drove Peralta’s conversation with 98.7 FM on Wednesday. He’s been seen before wearing a t-shirt that reads, “practice your humble.”

“You have to remember where you’re coming from and what it’s taken you to get here,” he said. “So you have to be a humble person. You have to be simple. You have to do the right thing. And that’s the people that are going to get success in this life.

“And that shirt, that’s from [teammate Eduardo] Escobar. It sounds like it’s funny but it means a lot. You have to practice your humble. We make it as a joke, but you have to be humble. You cannot forget where you’re coming from and you have to keep it simple.”

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