Dodgers’ Perez Buttons Up Game

Honesty apparently isn’t always the best policy, especially for an emotional left-hander playing for the light-hitting Dodgers last season.

Odalis Perez learned that the hard way after lashing out at, well, everyone except the pitching staff, and became a pariah in the clubhouse.

Times have changed.

Perez has regained his teammates’ trust during a personally frustrating season, focusing on the bigger picture while helping the Dodgers win their first National League West title in nine years. Despite poor run support and a major league-high 18 no-decisions, Perez buttoned his lips and just pitched.

Although some might consider Perez’s season disappointing, the Dodgers are not among them. Manager Jim Tracy selected him to start Game 1 of the National League division series Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, believing Perez deserves the honor as much for his behind-the-scenes fence-mending as his significant on-field contribution.

“I would say that after everything that happened last year, after I said that, I came this year with my mind ready to be one of the main guys in the rotation, and that’s what happened,” Perez said. “It was the truth what I said ... look at what happened.

“We scored less runs than Detroit, a team that lost more than 100 games. But I learned from that. It was a mistake, even if I told the truth, because I just shouldn’t have said it.”

Perez needed a major turnaround this season after having angered many at Chavez Ravine late last June, blasting team officials for assembling an inept team on offense. Last year, the Dodgers scored 17 fewer runs than the 43-119 Tigers.

Regardless, management quickly scolded Perez publicly and encouraged him to apologize to the team, which he did, but the situation was beyond repair last season.

At the time, catcher Paul Lo Duca said Perez had “no guts” for making comments to the media instead of voicing his concerns only in house. Teammates privately questioned Perez’s heart after he failed to make a start in September because of a broken fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Perez’s season ended in a disastrous, one-inning outing in a loss to San Diego, in which he developed a blood blister on his first pitch, and the Dodgers faded in the NL race.

Perez later said he knew he should not have pitched, but felt enormous pressure to take the mound while continuing to be roundly criticized in the clubhouse and media for skipping a start. He finished 12-12 with a 4.52 earned-run average after a breakthrough season in 2002: 15-10 with a 3.00 ERA. And because of his conduct with umpires, Perez was disciplined by the commissioner’s office. Other than that, a pretty good year.

“He’s been more emotionally stable, and he hasn’t had any blowups at all this year despite having minimal positive reinforcements in wins,” pitching coach Jim Colborn said. “Odalis has had to be satisfied with just pitching games where he’s held the opponents down.

“He made a decision to be stable and he stuck with it all year. I’m real proud of what he’s done.”

Perez finished 10th in the league with a 3.25 earned-run average in 196 1/3 innings and delivered 21 quality starts in 31 overall despite a pitching shoulder he revealed “has not been 100% all year long.” But his record is only 7-6, in part because the Dodgers provided Perez with a league-low 3.30 runs per nine innings. His 18 no-decisions are only two fewer than Bert Blyleven’s major league record.

And happily for the Dodgers, no one has heard a word about it from Perez.

“He’s shown a lot to his teammates between the white lines and in the clubhouse from the first day of spring training,” Tracy said. “When you have a young man who has worked as hard as he has, and who now has a better understanding of some of the things he does, you have to appreciate that effort. It’s a wonderful thing to see.”

Perez’s teammates also are impressed.

“Maybe he should feel the way he felt last year too, but he’s not showing it or saying anything bad to the media to show up the hitters,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “He has a lot of no-decision games, but you have to look at his ERA.

“If we were able to be put up four runs in those games he pitched, he’d have a lot more wins. We didn’t get enough runs for him, but he’s been good for us all year.”

Perez has similar feelings.

“It was not a bad year,” said Perez, who can become a free agent after the World Series.

“The main thing for me is to let people know that even if I don’t have a high winning percentage, I had a good year. How many games did I pitch with a no-decision? Eighteen. How many games did I allow one, two or three runs? A lot.

“People see the stats and say I didn’t have a good season. But people who know the game know I had a strong year. I did my best. I give my best. When I had a slump I found a way to come back and let people know I care about this team.”

In a five-start stretch from Aug. 23 through Sept. 13, Perez went 0-1 with four no-decisions and a 7.50 ERA. Teammates said Perez pitched through his worst shoulder pain of the season because he was determined to help them qualify for the playoffs.

Perez rebounded in his last two starts, having twice worked eight innings. He gave up only seven hits and three earned runs.

“He’d probably be ripping everybody if this was last year, but he knows that a lot of guys hated him because of the comments he made that you’re not supposed to make,” pitcher Jose Lima said. “He’s handled himself pretty well this year [by] not going to the media and going off on the guys here.

“I think he’s maturing a lot, and that will keep him around Major League Baseball for a long time. When you start making excuses and trying to blame your teammates that’s when you start getting into trouble and people don’t want you around.”