BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Perez Says Elbow Is Feeling Fine

Even when you are the son of Tony Perez, there iss nothing like the euphoria of your first major league spring-training camp as a player.

“This is unbelievable, I’m still trying to get over it,” said Eduardo Perez, who’s expected to be the Angels’ opening day left fielder. “I tell people I’m just glad to be here, and they think I’m joking.

“Seriously, I can’t describe how good this feels.”

Perez, who will wear his father’s No. 24 this season, wondered a month ago if he would make it to camp. He was training in Miami when his right elbow suddenly stiffened. He feared something was dreadfully wrong, but X-rays revealed no ligament damage. Instead, he had inflammation of the elbow, which sidelined him the final few days of the 1993 season.

“I was worried for a while,” Perez said, “but I’ve been rehabbing so much that nothing was going to keep me back. I’m here now, and there’s nothing in the world like it.

“This is better than I ever could imagine.”

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The Angels will be unable to reconstruct the 2,500 seats at Anaheim Stadium that were damaged in last month’s earthquake by opening day, according to Kevin Uhlich, Angel assistant vice president. However, he remains optimistic that they will have a temporary scoreboard in place.