Braves’ Perez Is No-Show for Game

Atlanta Braves pitcher Pascual Perez failed to show up for Monday night’s game with the Montreal Expos following his weekend disappearance in New York.

Team officials confirmed Perez left Shea Stadium in New York Sunday with his brother, Mario. He missed the team bus from the ballpark as well as the team charter to Montreal. He has not been heard from since.

“A suspension is certainly in order,” Brave General Manager John Mullen said before Monday night’s game at Olympic Stadium. “I don’t know if he stayed in New York with his brother or what, but evidently he’s not in Atlanta.”

The Braves said a decision will be made Tuesday whether Perez will be placed on the restricted list. A team must have the permission of the commissioner’s office for such a move.

Brave spokesman Bob Korch earlier in the day said repeated calls to Perez’ home went unanswered.

“We’re still looking for him,” he said. “John Mullen has been calling his apartment periodically and there is no answer there, but I understand it is not unusual for him to unplug his phone when he is at home.”

Braves officials said they believe Perez did not show up for the team flight to Montreal because he was frustrated following Sunday’s loss. Perez lasted just 4 2-3 innings in a 15-10 defeat and his record fell to 1-8. He was 14-8 last season.

“The kind of season he’s had has gotten to him a little,” pitching coach Johnny Sain said. “I know he’s feeling the pressure.”

Said Mullen: “He’s heard some boos and catcalls this year for the first time, and he’s probably feeling frustrated. He’s always had success and until this year he’s been very popular in Atlanta.”

This year Perez suffered a torn shoulder muscle and was out of the pitching rotation for June. Pitching woes, however, are not the worst problems Perez has faced since he joined the Braves.

He was picked up by authorities in January 1984 as he and a friend were leaving a bar in his native Dominican Republic. Officials said he was carrying half a gram of cocaine in his wallet.

Perez was charged with drug trafficking, punishable by two to five years in prison and fines totaling $5,000. After three months in jail, he was tried and found guilty of simple cocaine possession and fined $333.

Prosecutors appealed the lesser conviction, but the appellate court upheld the lower court decision. Perez was finally released from jail when prosecutors decided not to appeal the case to the Dominican Supreme Court.

Upon his return to the United States, Perez was out of baseball briefly but the suspension was lifted after a meeting with then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

“What he did yesterday in leaving the team wasn’t doing anything that’s against the law,” Korch said.

“He has been a model citizen for us, and to lessen the chance of anything happening, he stayed here last winter rather than go home to the Dominican Republic.”