Timoniel M. Pérez (born April 8, 1975) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB)

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. Between 2000 and 2007, he played for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. Prior to his MLB career, Pérez spent four seasons with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Career

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Pérez began his professional career by playing for the

of the Japanese

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

from 1996–1999. His best season in Japan was 1998, when he hit .296 in 98 games.

New York Mets

The

(MLB) signed Pérez as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2000. A September 1 callup, he made his MLB debut on September 1 against the

. He singled to center field as a pinch hitter against Cardinals reliever

Dave Veres David Scott Veres (born October 19, 1966) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1994 to 2003. Career On January 4, 2007, Veres signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies. However, ...

and was then thrown out trying to steal second. He hit a combined 12-for-40 in the

2000 National League Division Series The 2000 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2000 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...

and

2000 National League Championship Series The 2000 National League Championship Series (NLCS), to determine the champion of the National League in Major League Baseball’s 2000 postseason, was played between the Central Division champion and second-seeded St. Louis Cardinals and the w ...

. In Game 1 of the

2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, the two-time defending World Series champions an ...

against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, Pérez committed a baserunning blunder that remains infamous among Mets fans. With Pérez on first base,

Todd Zeile Todd Edward Zeile (; born September 9, 1965) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, catcher, and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played 16 seasons, from 1989 to 2004, for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, ...

hit a long fly ball that Pérez thought to be a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, causing him to slow down on the basepaths. However, the ball hit the top of the outfield wall and stayed in the park. Pérez's error in judgment caused him to be thrown out at

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

trying to score on the play. Overall, he played in 5 games in the World Series for the Mets, and had two hits in 17 at-bats. After another brief period with the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...

in 2001, he became a Mets regular. From 2000–2003 with the Mets, Pérez played in 372 games and hit .276 with 18 homers and 114

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

Chicago White Sox

Pérez was traded to the

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

during spring training in 2004, in exchange for

Matt Ginter Matthew Shane Ginter (born December 24, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Ginter was originally drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 17th round (509th overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball dra ...

. He was the fourth outfielder on their

2005 World Series The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...

championship team, only recording one at-bat in the series. In two seasons with the White Sox, he hit .235 in 179 games.

St. Louis Cardinals

On February 10, 2006, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

signed Pérez to a minor league contract, but he was traded to the

on April 21. Timo began his time with the Cardinals in the minor leagues and was promoted to the major league team on June 2, 2006. In his first Cardinal

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

, he was hit in the head with a pitch. He split his time between the Cardinals and the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

before being designated for assignment on August 23. He played in 23 games with the Cards and hit .194.

Detroit Tigers

On January 5, 2007, Pérez signed a minor league contract with the

, and was called up on July 19, 2007 to replace the injured Marcus Thames. Pérez began the season with the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, where his play earned him a spot on the 2007

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

All Star Team. Pérez was named MVP of the Triple-A All-Star game after going 3-4 with 2 RBI and a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

scored. At the time of his callup, he was leading the league in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, runs, and doubles, and was second in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Pérez was optioned back to Toledo on July 23, 2007. Then on August 28, 2007 he was recalled when

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Gary Sheffield Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. After his playing career, he became a sports agent. For most of his c ...

was placed on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. Pérez was designated for assignment on November 30, 2007. He accepted an outright assignment to the minor leagues on December 7, 2007. The Tigers re-signed him on December 11, 2007, and placed him on the 40-man roster. He played with the

for the entire 2008 Triple-A season and became a free agent at the end of the season, but re-signed with the Tigers in January 2009.

2009

He was released by the Tigers in April 2009 and signed with the Rojos del Águila de Veracruz of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

He played in 77 games with them and hit .323. On August 13, 2009, Perez signed with Independent

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional baseball league with teams in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. Founded in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio, the league was for ...

team

New Jersey Jackals The New Jersey Jackals are a professional baseball team based in Paterson, New Jersey. The Jackals compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the East Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was founded in 1998 by Floyd Hall and is ...

. He played in 21 games for the Jackals and hit .338.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 28, 2010, Pérez signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

with an invite to spring training. He was assigned to the AAA

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. On July 7, 2010, he was released from his contract.

Philadelphia Phillies

Pérez signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

on July 22, 2010 and was assigned to their AA affiliate in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

.minorleaguebaseball.com
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Back with Detroit

Perez went back to Detroit on another minor league contract in 2011 and played with their AAA affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens. In 2012, he played for the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "par ...

of the independent

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Timo 1975 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Memphis Redbirds players Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball left fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders New Jersey Jackals players New York Mets players Nippon Professional Baseball infielders Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Norfolk Tides players Baseball players from Baní Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Lucie Mets players Toledo Mud Hens players