COMMENTARY : Yankees Starved for Pitching

NEW YORK —  The New York Yankees sent a driver to pick up Pascual Perez at the airport Sunday morning with specific instructions to bring Perez directly to the stadium. So when Perez asked to check in at the team’s hotel first, the driver refused. The Yankees need Perez in a hurry.

On the face of it, it seems ludicrous that the Yankees are asking Perez to throw this team a life preserver. He is hardly a pillar of reliability. The man has pitched 14 innings since the beginning of the 1990 season, he has a history of drug, visa and legal problems, and his driving skills are such that he can turn a simple commute to the ballpark into the 24 Hours of Daytona.

However, it so happens a healthy Perez is precisely what the Yankees need. They are starved for decent starting pitching, their attendance is down seven percent and -- gulp! -- their 27-game record is one game worse than where they were at this time last year.

“Pascual,” reliever Steve Farr said, “may be just the shot in the arm that we need.”

Perez will not be added to the roster until Tuesday, three days before his 34th birthday, when he pitches for the first time since April 25, 1990. But he has contributed to the team already. When the Yankees returned to their clubhouse after batting practice and found Perez there, they erupted into salutations, jokes, laughter, handshakes and good cheer.

The Yankees then went out and beat Oakland for a second time in three days, 10-6. It would be overestimating Perez’ presence to credit him with the victory. But the point is Perez brings the Yankees an energy that can’t help but be carried onto the field.

“He brings a lot of enthusiasm,” catcher Bob Geren said. “And we need something like that right now.”

Said general manager Gene Michael, “The guy has this hyper way of doing things. It’s contagious.”

Perez worked his surgically repaired right shoulder back into shape by pitching in Tampa with the Yankees’ extended spring-training team. He had to get up at 7:30 a.m. for the 10 o’clock games, which were played mostly in humidity and 95-degree heat. Pitching was the easy part.

“The worst was getting up so early,” he said. “Get out of bed, no breakfast and go out and pitch. I never get up that early.”

By his last start, Perez was throwing a 94-mph fastball and an 86-mph slider.

“Those young kids, they had no chance,” he said with a laugh. “They swing so hard and they get so mad.”

Perez only angered them more with his usual antics: sprinting off the mound with a third-out pop-up still airborne, pumping his fist after strikeouts, and gyrating and gesturing about the mound as if a clubhouse prankster had put itching powder in his jockstrap.

“I can’t change,” Perez said. “You know me. Even if my mom was standing at the plate I’d have to knock her down.”

You won’t find that Mother’s Day greeting on any Hallmark card.

“He’s the kind of guy,” Farr said, “who you hate if he’s on the other team because he’s a hot dog. But if he’s on your team, you love him because of his enthusiasm. It’s like Donnie (Mattingly) said: He loves to play behind him because he’s so much fun and exciting.”

Perez is more than a showman, though. The man can deal. The Mets used to say the spin on his slider is so tight, they could not detect its off-center rotation. It arrived looking like a fastball before fiendishly breaking down and away. The American League managed two earned runs against him in his 14 innings last year, even as his shoulder was giving out.

What the Yankees need out of him even more than his histrionics are wins and innings. Their starting pitchers stick around less than Phil Rizzuto -- an average of 5 1-3 innings. They are 7-10 with a 5.59 earned run average while allowing 235 runners in 148 innings. Now you get an idea of why Perez, without having thrown a major-league pitch for more than a year, is so welcome around here.

“I’m happy to have him back,” pitching coach Mark Connor said. “He’s loose, he’s fun to be around, he’s exciting. What we’re trying to do is not build this up too much.”

Said Perez, “I know people say they need me back so bad. But I don’t want to say I carry the team by myself.”

No problem. Perez is used to carrying around heavy burdens. He arrived with eight thick gold chains around his neck, dangling all sorts of medallions, including one with his name -- first and last -- in precious stones.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said, “but I know I feel good.”

This much is certain: Perez gives you reason to look forward to a Yankee game. How many times have you been able to say that during the past two seasons?

“It’s his Opening Day,” manager Stump Merrill said. It can be a new start for the Yankees, too.