Some time ago, several years in the past, David Peralta stopped being defined by his origin story.



Mentions of his name were decoupled from mentions of his odyssey from independent ball to the major leagues. He came out of nowhere, but nowhere started to feel so long ago. Instead, year after year, he was there — hitting in the heart of the Diamondbacks order and manning an outfield corner. He became established, a lineup mainstay who, when healthy and at his best, was one of the better hitters in the game.



But even though Peralta is now the longest-tenured player on the team — Jake Lamb, Nick Ahmed and Andrew Chafin also debuted in 2014, but later in the year — he hasn’t become so used to his not-so-new normal that he’s forgotten the old one. That’s what was on the 32-year-old’s mind Monday after he signed a three-year, $22 million extension to remain in Arizona through the 2022 season.



“I was working at...