Former utilty infielder for the Phillies, Tomas Perez, is still playing professional baseball despite last appearing in a Major League Baseball game on April 21, 2008 with the Houston Astros. Turning 41 on Monday, Perez of the Caribes de Anzoategui Venezulan Winter League team, has 24 hits, seven doubles, one triple, one home run and five runs-batted-in with 90 at-bats this season.
On Tuesday, Perez played in all nine positions in his team's 4-3 victory. He finally got his wish, as back in 2002 Bob Brookover writes that Perez long-lobbied to manager Larry Bowa and general manager Ed Wade to accomplish such feat.
Having played 24 seasons of Venezuelen Winter League Baseball, Perez announced in October that this will be his last with the hopes of becoming a coach.
In six seasons with the Phils (504 games) from 2000 to 2005, Perez batted .249 with 20 home runs and 128 runs batted in. He was released by the Phillies on April 1, 2006 after they acquired outfielder David Dellucci from the Texas Rangers.
Tomas Perez is remembered in Philadelphia for being a reliable fielder, stepping-in for when the everyday starter needed a rest. The statistics below show that he had just 24 errors in 2,328 innings of work while wearing red pinstripes.
| Year | Tm | Lg | Age | Pos | G | GS | CG | Inn | Ch | PO | A | E | DP | Fld% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | PHI | NL | 26 | SS | 44 | 39 | 35 | 343.2 | 169 | 76 | 89 | 4 | 20 | .976 |
| 2001 | PHI | NL | 27 | 2B | 29 | 14 | 11 | 148.0 | 85 | 36 | 49 | 0 | 11 | 1.000 |
| 2001 | PHI | NL | 27 | 3B | 9 | 7 | 7 | 66.0 | 32 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 2 | .969 |
| 2001 | PHI | NL | 27 | SS | 8 | 5 | 4 | 48.0 | 28 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1.000 |
| 2001 | PHI | NL | 27 | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 | PHI | NL | 27 | RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | PHI | NL | 28 | 2B | 50 | 21 | 18 | 249.2 | 158 | 67 | 90 | 1 | 22 | .994 |
| 2002 | PHI | NL | 28 | 3B | 14 | 9 | 8 | 95.2 | 33 | 5 | 25 | 3 | 0 | .909 |
| 2002 | PHI | NL | 28 | SS | 13 | 12 | 9 | 103.1 | 63 | 30 | 33 | 0 | 11 | 1.000 |
| 2002 | PHI | NL | 28 | 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16.0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 2002 | PHI | NL | 28 | P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2003 | PHI | NL | 29 | 3B | 58 | 36 | 32 | 387.1 | 129 | 37 | 86 | 6 | 12 | .953 |
| 2003 | PHI | NL | 29 | 2B | 26 | 17 | 16 | 165.0 | 108 | 52 | 54 | 2 | 11 | .981 |
| 2003 | PHI | NL | 29 | 1B | 9 | 3 | 3 | 37.0 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1.000 |
| 2003 | PHI | NL | 29 | SS | 4 | 4 | 4 | 34.0 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | .917 |
| 2004 | PHI | NL | 30 | 3B | 22 | 7 | 7 | 97.2 | 36 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 1 | .944 |
| 2004 | PHI | NL | 30 | 2B | 17 | 11 | 9 | 108.1 | 58 | 26 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 1.000 |
| 2004 | PHI | NL | 30 | 1B | 10 | 6 | 4 | 56.0 | 56 | 49 | 5 | 2 | 4 | .964 |
| 2004 | PHI | NL | 30 | SS | 10 | 9 | 8 | 86.0 | 42 | 14 | 26 | 2 | 5 | .952 |
| 2005 | PHI | NL | 31 | 1B | 24 | 15 | 12 | 146.0 | 158 | 148 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 1.000 |
| 2005 | PHI | NL | 31 | 3B | 15 | 7 | 7 | 73.0 | 28 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 |
| 2005 | PHI | NL | 31 | SS | 14 | 5 | 5 | 61.0 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 1.000 |
Perez's biggest "claim to fame", however was when he threw shaving-cream pies in the faces of teammates being interviewed after games.
