#229 Mike Perez

About the Front: The sleeves of Mike Perez's undershirt aren't very aerodynamic.

About the Back: Perez was a 12th-round pick, not a 13th-rounder. It's getting to the point where I have to fact-check every player's draft status as a matter of course.

Triple Play:

1. Mike earned his first big league save on September 14, 1990. He replaced Ernie Camacho with two outs in the seventh inning, two runs in, and the tying runs on base for the Cubs in a 4-2 game. The rookie stranded both men by coaxing a Ryne Sandberg grounder to shortstop, then kept Chicago off the scoreboard in the eighth and ninth innings.

2. Meaningless stat alert! With a combined 16-5 record in 1992-1993, Perez had the most wins of any reliever in those two seasons combined.

3. He had a great deal of success in 22 career head-to-head matchups with Tim Wallach (.105/.182/.105).

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Going back to the 1993 Upper Deck well, I was fascinated by the infinite regression on Mike's card in that particular set.

Bill James Said: "Perez, who has a mix of pitches in which nothing stands out, has gotten everybody out for two years in a setup role for Lee Smith, and with Smith gone is the obvious candidate to start collecting the saves." Mike had a disastrous 1994, saving 12 games but posting an 8.71 ERA in 31 innings. St. Louis grabbed veteran closer Tom Henke in free agency prior to 1995, and Perez departed for the Cubs.

On This Date in 1993: June 9. Padres' GM Joe McIlvane resigns, unwilling to carry out the team's planned fire sale of veteran players. 29-year-old Randy Smith is named as his replacement and becomes the youngest general manager in MLB history.