Pascual Pérez (baseball)
Encyclopedia
Pascual Gross Perez (born May 17, 1957 in San Cristóbal
San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
San Cristóbal is a municipality and the capital of the San Cristóbal province in the Dominican Republic. Within the municipality there is one municipal district : Hato Damas.-Sectors:*5 de abril*Canastica*El Pomier...

, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

) was a right-handed baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

, Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

, Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

, and New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

.

He was signed by Neftalí Cruz for the Pirates organization in 1976 and reached the major league club in 1980. Traded to the Braves on June 30, 1982, he enjoyed his two best seasons while with that organization, going 15-8 and 14-8 in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

Incredibly slender at 6 ft 2 in, 162 lb., he was probably better known for his on-field and off-field antics than his pitching talent. He was arrested for cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 possession in his native Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 between the 1983 and 1984 seasons and did not rejoin the Braves until May 1984. Also a showboater, he often drew the ire of many of his opponents. He would use an imaginary finger gun
Finger gun
The finger gun is a hand gesture in which the subject uses their hand to mimic a handgun, raising their thumb above their fist to act as a hammer, and one or two fingers extended perpendicular to it acting as a barrel...

 to shoot opponents and would pound the baseball into the dirt on the mound. While it is customary for pitchers to walk back to the bench after completing an inning, he would sprint, with gold chains and Jheri-curls flapping in motion. He earned his nickname after missing a start on August 19, 1982 while circling Atlanta's Interstate 285
Interstate 285
Interstate 285 is an Interstate Highway loop encircling Atlanta, Georgia, for . I-285 is also known as unsigned State Route 407 and is colloquially referred to as the Perimeter. Suburban sprawl has made it one of the most heavily traveled roadways in the United States, and portions of the highway...

 looking for Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, often shortened to "Fulton County Stadium," was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.-History:...

.

Released by the Braves on April 1, 1986, he missed the entire 1986 season. After signing a minor league contract with the Expos in 1987, he joined the big club in August and finished the 1987 season 7-0. His last winning season came the following year when he went 12-8 with the Expos.

Pérez threw a five-inning rain-shortened no-hitter against the Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 on September 24, 1988. It was the first no-hitter in Veterans Stadium
Veterans Stadium
Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...

 history. Perez allowed one walk, and another Phillies baserunner reached on an error. Umpire Harry Wendelstedt
Harry Wendelstedt
Harry Hunter Wendelstedt, Jr. is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1966 to 1998. He umpired in the World Series in 1973, 1980, 1986, 1991 and 1995, serving as crew chief in 1980 and 1995...

 waved off the game after a 90-minute rain delay after the game was stopped by a steady rain with one out in the top of the sixth.

He was granted free-agency in November 1989 and subsequently signed with the Yankees. Through 1990 and 1991, he started only 17 games for the Yankees and compiled records of 1-2 and 2-4 respectively. Prior to the 1992 season, he was suspended by Major League Baseball for one year for violating the league's drug policy, a suspension that ultimately ended his career. His final career record was 67-68.

Two of his brothers, Melido
Melido Pérez
Mélido Turpen Gross Pérez , is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher from through for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees. He made his major league debut for the Kansas City Royals on September 4, 1987. In that game, Pérez pitched seven innings of shutout...

 and Carlos
Carlos Pérez (baseball player)
Carlos Gross Pérez is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball and the brother of former major league players Melido Pérez and Pascual Pérez. -Biography:...

, were also major league pitchers, as was a cousin, Yorkis
Yorkis Pérez
Yorkis Miguel Vargas Pérez is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The left-hander appeared in 337 games over nine seasons for the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles, all as a relief pitcher...

.

One of Pascual's pitches was a slow, high-arcing changeup. Since he was the only one in the majors throwing this pitch at the time, many referred to it as the Pascual pitch, although it is historically referred to as an Eephus pitch.

Pascal first made his trademark peek through the legs to check the runner on first in 1979 in the Dominican League. He put his head through his legs to look at Rafael Landestoy
Rafael Landestoy
Rafael Silvaido Landestoy Santana in Baní, Dominican Republic) was an eight year major league baseball veteran who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers...

on first base.

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