San Diego Padres Left-handed Pitcher Born: Culiacan, Mexico on 8/15/81

Oliver Perez broke into professional baseball with AZL Padres in 1999. After solid pitching performances with Idaho Falls, Lake Elsinore, Fort Wayne, and Mobile in 2000-02, he was brought up to the majors at age 20 by the San Diego Padres and gained a win in his major league debuted on June 16, 2002 against Seattle. Doing so while he was the youngest player in the majors at this time. In 2002 the Mexican-born Perez quickly became a Latino hero with his blazing fastball. He started 15 games, struck out a resounding 94 batters in just 90 innings and finished his rookie year with a 4-5 record, with a solid 3.50 earned run average. Padres manager Bruce Bochy said, 'He reminds you of Fernando Valenzuela with completely different stuff. He loves to compete and loves to play baseball.' baseballhistorian.com - The History of Baseball