Carlos Pérez (baseball)

:"For other people, see Carlos Perez (disambiguation)."Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#EE1422
bgcolor2=#083884
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Carlos Pérez


position=Pitcher
bats=Left
throws=Left
debutdate=April 27
debutyear=by|1995
debutteam=Montreal Expos
finaldate=September 5
finalyear=2000
finalteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
stat1label=Win-loss record
stat1value=40-53
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=4.44
stat3label=Innings pitched
stat3value=822.2
teams=
*Montreal Expos (1995–1998)
*Los Angeles Dodgers (1998–2000)
highlights=
All-Star (NL): 1995

Carlos Gross Pérez (born 1971 in Nagua, Dominican Republic) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball and the brother of former major league players Melido and Pascual Pérez.

Biography

Pérez signed with the Montreal Expos as an amateur free agent in by|1988. After being an all-star pitcher in his debut season in by|1995, Pérez's career looked extremely promising. However, he soon suffered an untimely and devastating injury which forced him to miss the entire 1996 season. After rehabilitation, he re-joined the Expos in by|1997 (then a more futile team than it was in 1995) but still displayed steady showings of his all-star form. After several productive months into the 1998 season, Pérez was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 31 along with Hiram Bocachica and Mark Grudzielanek for Peter Bergeron, Wilton Guerrero, Ted Lilly, and Jonathan Tucker.

By the time he became a Dodger, his once likely potential for being a dominant left-handed major league pitcher was quickly slipping away. Frustration grew and Pérez pitched his two worst seasons in by|1999 (2-10 in only 16 starts) and by|2000 (relinquished to the bullpen after an entire career as a starter). Many fans remember a somewhat famous outburst by Pérez while in the dugout immediately after being removed from a game by his manager in Dodger Stadium. Pérez, fuming over a poor performance, proceeded to passionately destroy a water cooler with a baseball bat for several moments (video clips of it are still played on sports television networks when topics relating to "athlete outbursts" occur). His performance soon thereafter, coupled with a legal issue stemming from an airplane flight in which a flight attendant accused Pérez of choking, threatening, and causing injury to her, forced him to an early exit from baseball. [http://www.addictsports.com/baseball/showthread.php?t=246]

Pérez may best be known for being a highly animated player, especially when he was on the mound. Beginning in his rookie year, after every strikeout he recorded (and sometimes even after individual strikes), Pérez would make spastic movements; usually flailing an arm into the air while crouching very low to the ground and hopping in a semi-circle (in the case of a strikeout, Pérez would react in unity with the umpire who was signaling the strikeout motion). Sometimes batters took personal offense to it while others realized or knew that it was just part of his routine.

Minor league career

Pérez played for parts of all but two, (by|1995 and by|2000), of his twelve professional baseball seasons in minor league baseball.

Minor league stints

"Year: team (organization/level)"
*: Dominican Expos (Montreal Expos/rookie)
*: Gulf Coast Expos (Montreal/rookie)
*: Sumter (Montreal/A)
*: Rockford (Montreal/A)
*: Burlington (Montreal/A) and San Bernardino (Montreal/A+)
*: Harrisburg (Montreal/AA) and Ottawa (Montreal/AAA)
*: Salt Lake City (Montreal/AAA)
*: Gulf Coast Expos (Montreal/rookie)
*: Albuquerque (Los Angeles Dodgers/AAA)
*: Las Vegas (Los Angeles/AAA)

Major league career

Pérez played for parts of five seasons in major league baseball with two teams. In his debut season in 1995, he made his first and only all-star appearance.

Major league stints

"Year: team and selected stats"
*: Montreal Expos (10-8, 3.69 ERA)
*: Montreal Expos (12-13, 3.88 ERA)
*: Montreal Expos (7-10, 3.75 ERA) and Los Angeles Dodgers (4-4, 3.24 ERA)
*: Los Angeles Dodgers (2-10, 7.43 ERA)
*: Los Angeles Dodgers (5-8, 5.56 ERA)

Facts

* Pérez hit four home runs, two triples, and eight doubles in his 250 official MLB at-bats.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/perezca01.shtml Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/P/Carlos-Perez.shtml/ Baseball Cube]