Here’s Some Well-Deserved Recognition for Poor Perez

I go on vacation for a week, and it’s like a license for our local athletes to say stupid things -- thinking they will get away with it.

And I’ve got six more weeks of vacation coming.

Well, it’s a good thing I have a number of watchdog e-mailers writing to let me know about a comment Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez made in the Riverside Press-Enterprise while I was busy evaluating golf courses across the land.

After he was removed from the starting rotation, Perez discontinued the “O’s 45” charitable program he funded and then said he would no longer buy 45 tickets to send inner-city kids to Dodgers games -- even though he got his starting job back.

“When you spend your own money you want to be recognized for that,” Perez was quoted as saying in the Riverside newspaper.

“I don’t want to be a hero, but just pay more attention to what I’m doing. People don’t want to give me recognition for it.”

I’d like to take this opportunity, of course, to give him the recognition he richly deserves. There’s no question Perez has done a wonderful thing here, saving 45 kids from the torture of watching him pitch.

How horrible would it have been had he continued the program, the little darlings sitting in the stands last week, easily identifiable by the “O’s 45” T-shirts they would’ve been wearing, the subject of ridicule as O, or the Big Zero, if you prefer, gave up seven runs and 11 hits in less than five innings of work.

I’d like to “pay more attention” to what Perez is doing, but he’s just not in the game long enough these days to do that.

Take all the stories about selfish athletes who don’t know how good they have it, take into consideration the Big Zero’s $8.75-million salary, and then he wonders why the fans in Dodger Stadium booed him the other night. And that was before they knew his real motivation for bringing kids to games was the desire for more personal accolades.

Perez has a history of not being accountable for his mistakes, a press box colleague suggesting if he wanted to be charitable, he should make a donation every time he blames a teammate for his poor performance.

By the time he’s finished, he’d have a hospital built in his name.

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I BLAME most of this, though, on the Dodgers’ website, which obviously inspired the Big Zero’s bellyaching.

The team’s PR guy, Josh Rawitch, is writing a blog and recently criticized Page 2 for not giving the Dodgers recognition for their community service.

You don’t think Perez could think of such a thing without a little help, do you?

Rawitch offered a bribe to Page 2 in his blog to gain more recognition for the Dodgers’ charitable efforts -- making one wonder if the Dodgers do community service only to get media attention.

He said he’d donate $50 to charity out of his own pocket -- because no one could expect the Ex-Parking Lot Attendant to come up with that kind of dough -- for each Dodger charity getting coverage on Page 2.

I called Rawitch on Monday, and said I’d like to give Perez the recognition he deserves -- for saving so many kids from the public embarrassment of being linked to the Big Zero. He might even deserve consideration for a humanitarian award.

What a shock, of course, to learn that Rawitch, so eager to get the Dodgers more recognition for their charitable work, was unable to contact Perez to further discuss his comments on charity in the Riverside newspaper.

I did some checking, though, beginning with the Dodgers’ media guide, which said Perez “purchased 45 tickets for local youth for various home games” last year.

There was also a nice picture with Perez standing in the middle of youngsters -- each wearing an “O’s 45” T-shirt, and yet another public reminder that the Big Zero, No. 45, had a big heart.

Then I called the Dodgers, and learned Perez had purchased 45 tickets “for various home games” last year -- well, two, to be exact.

A team official said he had done so four times this year, which means he still has some catching up to do to with the Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero, who purchases 127 tickets for youngsters -- for EVERY Angel home game.

Funny thing, Guerrero has never brought that up.

By the way, I believe Rawitch owes a $50 donation to charity for the Page 2 coverage given to the Big Zero’s work in saving our local youngsters from nightmarish visits to Dodger Stadium when he pitches this season.

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COBI JONES was a guest on the father/daughter gabfest Sunday morning on 570. He’s a soccer player. News to me too.

He played in 11 World Cup matches for the U.S., failed to score, and got a little feisty when I mentioned/dwelled on that. He now plays for the Galaxy -- perfect, when you consider the Galaxy almost never scores.

I told him to score a goal for me, and then maybe I might pay attention to what he does. A few hours later, he scored the Galaxy’s only goal in a 1-1 tie.

I hope this doesn’t mean I have to go to a Galaxy game.

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WE INVITED Cobi on the show, because the other Kobe has declined to respond to invitations via his agent and new PR rep to discuss why he tanked against the Suns.

Given his recent appearances with Charles Barkley and on “The Best Damn Sports Show Period,” he obviously insists on adoring interviewers, and knowing the daughter as I do, that’s a problem.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.