GaryMrMets
04-01-2004, 05:08 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/8324931.htm
Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004
On Baseball | Hit, Run - and Fun
Count Tomas Perez, gamer and prankster, as a Phillies favorite.
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Tomas Perez has two goals for this season.
Win the World Series.
Nail Larry Bowa with a shaving-cream pie.
"This is the year I get him," the good-natured utility infielder said with an impish grin. "I'm waiting for something big. Maybe our 100th win."
Perez is the Phillies' resident prankster and mood lightener. By now you've seen his handiwork dozens of times. The star of the game will be basking in the glow of a postgame television interview. Out of nowhere, Perez will sneak in and deliver a face full of Barbasol.
"It's an honor to be pied by Tomas," Mike Lieberthal said yesterday. "He's the master. Hopefully he'll get me a lot this year."
Perez loves whipping up his creamy creations. He became so well-known for it last season that he says fans started calling him "Pie Man" when he came out to stretch and sign autographs before a game at the Vet.
Hey, Pie Man. Over here, Pie Man.
"I hear it all the time," Perez said, laughing. "One day in Philly, somebody gave me some shaving cream. I thought it was so funny."
Few have avoided Perez's foamy wrath. The 30-year Venezuelan scratched his head, thought for a second, and concluded that Bowa, slugger Jim Thome and third-base coach John Vukovich were the notables that he has missed.
Wait a minute. Thome hit 47 bombs last year and got off pie-free?
"Once he won a game and he said, 'I waited for you, what happened?' " Perez recalled. "I said, 'I wanted to get you, but they wouldn't let me.' "
They?
"The coaches didn't want me to get him. It's a respect thing."
Perez wonders if he'll ever get Vukovich. It's not that Vukovich is all that irascible, but he likes people to think he is.
"I don't think he'd like it," said Perez, feigning fear.
Perez is a clubhouse favorite. Once upon a time that might have been difficult to believe. When he joined the Phillies before the 2000 season, he had a reputation for being an attitude problem.
Even he admits it.
"People said I had a bad attitude, that I was cocky," Perez said.
"I heard it," said Ramon Henderson, the Phils Spanish-speaking bullpen coach. "People said Tomas was a hot dog."
Was he?
"He was young and immature," Henderson said. "He was pushed to the big leagues early [with Toronto in 1995]. He didn't have people tell him the truth and say, 'Cut out the [junk] and play baseball.'
"Tomas has gained experience and matured. He's accepted his role and now we see what he is: A true baseball player. You can't teach instincts like he has."
Age, marriage and fatherhood (he and his wife, Andrea, have a 17-month-old daughter, Paola) have helped Perez mature. That maturity has helped him accept his role as a reserve.
Perez is a player who can come off the bench a couple times a week and spark a lineup with his energy or a big defensive play. He has the best hands of any infielder on the Phillies' roster.
"If I'm winning in the ninth inning, I want the ball hit to him," Henderson said.
Surviving as a reserve in the majors is not easy. It requires accepting what you are, and realizing that you have shortcomings that prevent you from playing every day. And it often requires supplementing with extra at-bats in the off-season. Perez is known for playing an entire winter ball season in his native Venezuela. Not all big-league bench players are willing to do that.
When Perez was sidelined by a sore foot last week, a look of fear swept across Bowa's face. First of all, Perez is the Phils' only true backup shortstop. They need him.
Second, Bowa adores Perez.
"He never complains," Bowa said. "Sometimes I'll give a hitter a day off against a tough pitcher and use Tomas as a sacrificial lamb. He doesn't care. He loves to play."
That's obvious. Perez brings a joy to the game. He's always chirping, always smiling, always making it clear that he thinks he has the best job on earth. And that job description includes keeping the mood light.
"You have to enjoy this game," he said. "When you cross the lines, play hard, but enjoy it."
Bowa has absorbed daggers from some players over the years, but from Perez he gets nothing but gratitude. He says Bowa reminds him of his father, Tomas Sr., who is a high school coach in Venezuela.
"They both like to win," Perez said, grinning.
He paused.
"I'm thankful to God for letting me play baseball, and second to Bowa for giving me a chance."
But make no mistake, Perez would still love to give Bowa a face full of shaving cream some day.
A new season begins Monday. Beware the Pie Man.
Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004
On Baseball | Hit, Run - and Fun
Count Tomas Perez, gamer and prankster, as a Phillies favorite.
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Tomas Perez has two goals for this season.
Win the World Series.
Nail Larry Bowa with a shaving-cream pie.
"This is the year I get him," the good-natured utility infielder said with an impish grin. "I'm waiting for something big. Maybe our 100th win."
Perez is the Phillies' resident prankster and mood lightener. By now you've seen his handiwork dozens of times. The star of the game will be basking in the glow of a postgame television interview. Out of nowhere, Perez will sneak in and deliver a face full of Barbasol.
"It's an honor to be pied by Tomas," Mike Lieberthal said yesterday. "He's the master. Hopefully he'll get me a lot this year."
Perez loves whipping up his creamy creations. He became so well-known for it last season that he says fans started calling him "Pie Man" when he came out to stretch and sign autographs before a game at the Vet.
Hey, Pie Man. Over here, Pie Man.
"I hear it all the time," Perez said, laughing. "One day in Philly, somebody gave me some shaving cream. I thought it was so funny."
Few have avoided Perez's foamy wrath. The 30-year Venezuelan scratched his head, thought for a second, and concluded that Bowa, slugger Jim Thome and third-base coach John Vukovich were the notables that he has missed.
Wait a minute. Thome hit 47 bombs last year and got off pie-free?
"Once he won a game and he said, 'I waited for you, what happened?' " Perez recalled. "I said, 'I wanted to get you, but they wouldn't let me.' "
They?
"The coaches didn't want me to get him. It's a respect thing."
Perez wonders if he'll ever get Vukovich. It's not that Vukovich is all that irascible, but he likes people to think he is.
"I don't think he'd like it," said Perez, feigning fear.
Perez is a clubhouse favorite. Once upon a time that might have been difficult to believe. When he joined the Phillies before the 2000 season, he had a reputation for being an attitude problem.
Even he admits it.
"People said I had a bad attitude, that I was cocky," Perez said.
"I heard it," said Ramon Henderson, the Phils Spanish-speaking bullpen coach. "People said Tomas was a hot dog."
Was he?
"He was young and immature," Henderson said. "He was pushed to the big leagues early [with Toronto in 1995]. He didn't have people tell him the truth and say, 'Cut out the [junk] and play baseball.'
"Tomas has gained experience and matured. He's accepted his role and now we see what he is: A true baseball player. You can't teach instincts like he has."
Age, marriage and fatherhood (he and his wife, Andrea, have a 17-month-old daughter, Paola) have helped Perez mature. That maturity has helped him accept his role as a reserve.
Perez is a player who can come off the bench a couple times a week and spark a lineup with his energy or a big defensive play. He has the best hands of any infielder on the Phillies' roster.
"If I'm winning in the ninth inning, I want the ball hit to him," Henderson said.
Surviving as a reserve in the majors is not easy. It requires accepting what you are, and realizing that you have shortcomings that prevent you from playing every day. And it often requires supplementing with extra at-bats in the off-season. Perez is known for playing an entire winter ball season in his native Venezuela. Not all big-league bench players are willing to do that.
When Perez was sidelined by a sore foot last week, a look of fear swept across Bowa's face. First of all, Perez is the Phils' only true backup shortstop. They need him.
Second, Bowa adores Perez.
"He never complains," Bowa said. "Sometimes I'll give a hitter a day off against a tough pitcher and use Tomas as a sacrificial lamb. He doesn't care. He loves to play."
That's obvious. Perez brings a joy to the game. He's always chirping, always smiling, always making it clear that he thinks he has the best job on earth. And that job description includes keeping the mood light.
"You have to enjoy this game," he said. "When you cross the lines, play hard, but enjoy it."
Bowa has absorbed daggers from some players over the years, but from Perez he gets nothing but gratitude. He says Bowa reminds him of his father, Tomas Sr., who is a high school coach in Venezuela.
"They both like to win," Perez said, grinning.
He paused.
"I'm thankful to God for letting me play baseball, and second to Bowa for giving me a chance."
But make no mistake, Perez would still love to give Bowa a face full of shaving cream some day.
A new season begins Monday. Beware the Pie Man.