Perez mentoring younger Mariners

07/20/2006
SEATTLE -- When the Mariners acquired Eduardo Perez from the Cleveland Indians on June 30, it was with the express intent he would serve the team as a right-handed hitting designated hitter.
In short, the Mariners wanted production from his bat -- not his mouth.
But following Wednesday's 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees, Perez has but 10 at-bats since joining the Mariners.
But that's not to say the well-traveled infielder hasn't made an impact on this new team -- it's just not where most people can see Perez's other value to the team: his presence inside the clubhouse.
In his short stint with the Mariners thus far, Perez has already become a de facto mentor to a handful of young players in the Mariners' clubhouse, like rookie center fielder Adam Jones, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and second baseman Jose Lopez.
Make no mistake, Perez wasn't brought to Seattle to mentor these 20-something players who are still cutting their professional teeth and doing it in the Major Leagues no less.
And no one sat Perez down after the trade and explicitly asked him to watch over these players, help guide or impart the wisdom that he's gathered during his career that started when he joined the then-California Angels in 1993.
Instead, Perez does all this on his own, offering a sympathetic ear to any player who is interested in talking or offering his opinion to anyone who wants to listen.
"I think this is my role," Perez said inside the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium earlier this week. "It was the role veteran players took with me when I came up to steer me in the right direction."
Perez, 36, is the first to admit that his situation is a little different, mostly because, unlike any of the players in the Mariners' clubhouse, he has a rich baseball pedigree.
"It was different for me, because I grew up in a clubhouse," said Perez, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who played in the Major Leagues from 1964-86 and later served two stints as a manager. "I grew up watching veterans take care of the young guys. When I came to the league, guys did that for me."
Perez counts former teammates Chili Davis and Barry Larkin as players who influenced him early in his playing career. Said Perez: "Every team needs guys like that."
Seattle has that in Perez, who recently sat down and talked with Jones -- the 20-year-old rookie -- in Toronto after Jones misplayed two fly balls that led to a big inning. Perez sat with Jones during an entire game in Toronto and talked. And he listened.
"Eddie Perez has been great," Jones said. "He's played for a long time and he knows the grinds about the game. He told me to have fun and that you can't win a game on one at-bat. Do what you do best and let everything else settle in."
One of the primary points Perez shares with young players is that mistakes are a part of the game, and that you can't be tentative because of them.
"I tell the young guys they do belong here and that they will make mistakes," Perez said. "But you have to learn from them. That's the key. No one is perfect. The more baseball you see, the more they learn from their mistakes. That's what I want them to learn."
Because his playing time has been infrequent for Perez -- he shares the designated hitter duties with Carl Everett, who gets the bulk of the playing time because he plays against right-handed pitchers -- Perez will often float around during a game to talk to players.
"I'm 36, and since I don't play every day, I have time to help Adam [Jones] or Betancourt," Perez said. "I guess I'm just trying to help them realize this is a tough league and to help them make adjustments.
"Sometimes guys don't want to hear the truth. But these guys are good. This is a good clubhouse."

Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/