1990 Profile: Pascual Perez

"A startling three-year $5.7 million contract brings him to Yankee Stadium. As a free agent, he'd rejected Montreal's three-year $ 4-million offer- all this after alcohol and drug problems, a 9-13 mark in 1989 and a 64-62 career record.
The animated crowd favorite began the season with seven straight losses after rehab treatment. Perez faces a one-year suspension for any violation of his after-care program. He was ejected for beaning LA's Mike Scioscia on May 31.
Born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Perez was signed as a free agent by the Pirates in January 1976. His brother Melido pitches for the White Sox and his brother Vladimir pitches in the Mets' system."

-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition

" 'Free spirit' is the tag that seems to follow new Yankee right-hander Pascual Perez. A wallflower he's not. A flamethrower he is.
After almost a decade in the National League, Perez comes to New York in the hope of lighting a fire under the Yankees. This guy can do it, with his arm and with his 'spirit.' You can bet fans will make the extra effort to get to Yankee Stadium on the days Pascual throws. He's unpredictable, yet he brings a track record of a winner.
Perez will firm up the starting rotation and with a strong offense behind him, he is sure to conquer a few new enemies."

-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook

"Perez was 9-13 with a 3.31 ERA with the Expos last season. He appeared in 33 games (28 starts) and allowed 178 hits, 45 walks and 152 strikeouts over 198.1 innings pitched [1.12 WHIP].
The season did not start out as planned for Pascual, as he was 0-7, 4.87 (57.1 IP) through his first 11 appearances (April 6-May 27). Prior to 1989 he had not lost consecutive decisions since 1985.
He made five April starts and was 0-2 with a 3.48 ERA. In his three no-decisions Perez had a 1.71 ERA (21 IP) and the Expos were 2-1 in those games. From April 26-May 20, he lost six consecutive games (five starts), compiling a 6.60 ERA (30 IP) in that span.
Pascual made four straight relief appearances to end May and notched his first win on May 29 at Los Angeles, pitching two hitless innings in relief. The win came in the club's 50th game of the season. Through May, he was 1-7 with a 5.10 ERA (60 IP).
From June on Perez became a consistent pitcher. He made five June appearances and was 3-1 in four starts with a 2.03 ERA, lowering his overall ERA from 5.10 to 4.05, and walked only five batters in 31 innings pitched during the month. He notched his first win as a starter on June 6 against St. Louis (6 IP, 1 ER) and won against Philadelphia in his next outing (8 IP, 2 ER). On June 26, Pascual threw his first complete game of the season, beating the Mets with a 5-hitter and a season best 11 strikeouts.
Pascual was 1-2 with a 3.25 ERA for July in five starts and threw six-plus innings in all nine of his June and July starts. He pitched eight innings of shutout ball on August 2 at Pittsburgh and pitched his second complete game of the season on August 18 against San Diego (6H, 2 ER) for his two wins in August. Overall for the month, Pascual was 2-2 in six starts with a 2.27 ERA, lowering his season ERA to 3.43.
He again pitched well in September, going 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA. Pascual was impressive in his final seven starts, compiling a 3-1 record with a 1.95 ERA (50.2 IP); he averaged 7.2 innings per start in that span and did not allow more than three earned runs in any one game. He pitched the final two games of the season against the Mets, winning on September 16 at home (7 IP, 1 ER) and getting a no-decision on September 22 at Shea (6 IP, 2 ER).
Perez went 9-6 with a 2.86 ERA (141 IP) after his 0-7 start and really turned it on after the break, going 5-4 with a 2.19 ERA (94 IP) in 13 starts as compared to 4-9 with a 4.33 ERA (104 IP) before the break.
For the season he averaged just under seven innings per start. He ranked sixth in the National League for fewest walks per nine innings (2.0) and averaged 3.4 strikeouts/one walk. Of the 30 NL pitchers with at least 190 innings pitched in 1989, Perez had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio. He allowed 15 home runs, or one every 13.2 innings pitched and had a .237 batting average against, second among Expo starters.
As a batter, Perez hit .204 (11-for-54) with a club best [among pitchers] three doubles and eight RBIs.
He signed a three-year contract with the Yankees as a free agent in November 1989. The contract extends through the 1992 season.
Perez was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent in January 1976. In 1980, he was 12-10 with a 4.05 ERA at AAA Portland. He made his major league debut with a start against the Dodgers on May 7. Overall, Pascual was 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts for the Pirates.
He started the 1981 season at Portland (1-2 with a 4.94 ERA in five starts) yet spent a majority of the season with the Pirates. He appeared in 17 games (13 starts) for Pittsburgh, compiling a 2-7 record with a 3.98 ERA over 86 innings. Pascual notched his first major league win on May 22 pitching a complete game against Philadelphia.
Pascual began 1982 at Portland but was traded with a player to named later to the Braves at the end of June for pitcher Larry McWilliams. He won all five of his starts at AAA Richmond before being promoted to the Braves for the drive to the divisional title, which they eventually won. Perez helped solidify the Atlanta staff in the second half of the '82 season.
A large part of the Perez mystique revolves around an incident on the day of a game against the Expos on August 19, 1982. Pascual, fresh from passing his driver exam that morning, attempted the drive to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium by himself for the first time. He became lost and circled Atlanta three times on the interstate (I-285) which runs around the city before running out of gas. By the time Pascual entered the ballpark, Phil Niekro, the substitute starter, was well on his way to beating the Expos and snapping the Braves' slump.
In 1983 Pascual was 15-8 and tied for the club lead in wins and was second in the league in winning percentage (.652) behind John Denny. He established personal highs in wins, starts (33), complete games (7) and innings pitched (215.1) and was named to the All-Star Game. In 1984, he led the Braves in wins despite missing the first month of the schedule and had a career high 145 strikeouts.
Pascual was 1-13 in 1985, a season which saw him on the disabled list three times as well as on the restricted list once, for missing a team flight to Montreal on July 21. Prior to his injury-plagued 1985 season, he was 33-20 in three seasons with the Braves for a .623 winning percentage.
He was released by the Braves in the April 1, 1986 purge which also saw the release of veterans Len Barker, Rick Camp and Terry Forster. Perez did not pitch during the 1986 season but reported to Dominican Republic winter baseball where he posted a 4-3 record in 11 starts for Aguilas with a 3.36 ERA.
Perez was signed to a minor league contract by the Expos in February 1987 while at the Caribbean World Series in Mexico. He arrived on May 1 due to visa problems, reported to AAA Indianapolis on May 12 and then reported to the Expos on August 19.
At Indianapolis, Perez was twice named American Association Player of the Week: June 8-14 (2-0, 1.00 ERA) and June 22-28 (2-0, 1.50 ERA). His June stats at Indy were an impressive 6-0, 1.40 ERA, with five complete games and two shutouts. He won Indy's Player of the Month award as well as the AA's, along with the Expos organization Pitcher of the Month honors. Perez finished at 9-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 19 starts and earned the nod as the American Association's Pitcher of the Year.
Perez was 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 10 starts following his recall to Montreal. Counting two contests in which he pinch-ran and scored key runs, the Expos were 11-1 in games in which he appeared. He warmed to the task with two no-decision starts in August before reeling off a 7-0 mark with a 2.28 ERA in September, establishing a club record along the way. He was named National League Pitcher of the Month for September and Expos Player of the Month.
A stopper in all definitions of the word, Perez posted six of his seven wins following an Expos loss: on August 28 he had worked a 3-hitter through nine but left that game without a decision; on September 2 at San Francisco he won his first game in the majors since July 14, 1985; he tossed consecutive complete games on September 12 and 17- the first against the Cubs (9/12) was his first such effort since September 12, 1984. Pascual struck out 11 Cubs in that game for a career high- his previous best was 10 on September 12, 1983; on September 17 against the Mets, he tossed a 4-hitter, tying his career best for a complete game.
In 1988 Perez was 12-8 with a 2.44 ERA in 27 starts surrounding 44 days on the disabled list with a broken middle fingertip. He had career bests in ERA and shutouts and was sixth in the NL in ERA. His season went from the sublime (a five-inning no-hitter at Philadelphia) to the ridiculous (a league leading 14 pinch running assignments).
Pascual threw a 2-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Reds on April 27. He was attempting bunt a Nolan Ryan fastball on May 7 when the injury occurred, causing him to miss eight starts. Pascual was sent to Indianapolis on rehab option on June 13, pitching twice with no decisions before returning to the ranks of the active on June 21.
He had a streak of 22 scoreless innings from May 7 to July 1- six before and 16 after his injury. Before his injury, Pascual was 3-3 with a 1.87 ERA, with his losses being by scores of 3-0, 2-0 and 3-2. Immediately upon his return, he was 3-0, 1.77 in his first five starts back.
After the game of July 14, Perez led the league with a 1.58 ERA. He suffered a seven-start one-month dip from July 19 to August 18 with a 4.43 ERA (42.2 IP).
He made the Pascual Pitch (a version of the Eephus) part of his repertoire. Throwing it an average of two or three times per start, Pascual allowed just one extra-base hit on this, the paragon of parabolic pelotes- a towering blast by former slo-pitch softball player Glenn Davis of the Astros on July 19 at Olympic Stadium.
Pascual was ejected from the August 28 game against the Giants for one of his 10 balk calls for the season. The sixth-inning balk had broken a 1-1 tie. He went 361 days and 51 at-bats between hits, collecting a line-drive single to right against Don Robinson of the Giants on September 3. His previous hit had been on September 7, 1987 against Danny Cox of the Cardinals.
His no-hitter, a rain-shortened 1-0 win on September 24, was the first no-hitter in Philadelphia since Bill Stoneman turned the trick in 1969. Pascual walked one and struck out eight of the last 11 batters he faced. He followed with a combined 2-hitter with Andy McGaffigan on September 30 in a 2-1 loss to the Cubs.
With 133 hits, 44 walks [0.94 WHIP] and seven hit batters, he allowed 184 baserunners in 188 innings, the best runners per nine innings pitched ratio in the NL. Perez was the only pitcher to allow fewer runners than innings pitched; second and third in this category were Mike Scott of the Astros and Bob Ojeda of the Mets. Opponents managed just a .196 average against Perez, second to Sid Fernandez of the Mets (.191) and ahead of Scott (.204).
In games where the Expos scored four or more runs, Perez was 10-1 with three no-decisions. In eight starts with zero or one run, he was an amazing 2-3 with two no-decisions. In two of his starts, he pitched eight shutout innings and got no decision. The Expos scored a total of 13 runs in his eight losses.
Pascual was 6-3 with a 1.68 ERA at Olympic Stadium and is 9-3 at home in an Expo uniform. He did not lose more than one straight game in 1988.
His younger brother Melido pitched for the White Sox in 1988. Pascual (12) and Melido (12) combined for more wins than any brothers in the majors."

-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide

Tied for Carolina League lead in shutouts (5), 1978.
Tied for American Association lead in shutouts (2), 1987.
Named American Association Pitcher of the Year, 1987.
Pitched five-inning, no-hit victory against Philadelphia, September 24, 1988.

-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide