A Secondary Blessing: Andrew Perez reflects his family’s values
Andrew Perez’s work ethic and family roots make him a perfect fit in the White Sox system.
It’s the top of the ninth inning. The Winston-Salem Dash are locked in a 6–6 tie with the Wilmington Blue Rocks at BB&T Ballpark. Left-handed reliever Andrew Perez enters the ballgame.
He walks the first hitter. The next batter lays down a sacrifice bunt, but an error is committed on the play. There’s runners at first and second with nobody out, but this tense situation isn’t the first time Perez has faced adversity.
As a freshman at Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Florida, Perez had aspirations of making the baseball team. He was cut, not from the varsity team, but from the junior varsity.
Perez’s mother, Miguelina Rosa Perez, recalled the difficulty of finding out that news, “He was sad for a little bit, but we told him it wasn’t meant to be now, let’s just keep working harder and we’ll try again.”
Instead of waiting around for next year’s tryouts, Perez dedicated himself to music, and more specifically the drums. After his parents had purchased him a drum set, Perez remembers practicing any time he could get the chance.
“I would practice in the bathroom, or in the garage.”
Perez’s father, Felix Perez, was impressed by his son’s dedication to the drums.
“He self-taught himself to play the drums. In his freshman year, he made the drumline, and he was one of only five freshman to ever make the drumline at his high school. He’s a very self-motivated kid, when he makes up his mind about doing something, he’s relentless.”
While Perez flourished in his time with the band alongside his older sister Ashley Perez, he continued to work hard for next year’s baseball tryouts. Miguelina Rosa recognized that Andrew had an incredible work ethic for such a young age.
“He would practice more, work out more. That’s him. You know you have to work harder and that’s it. That’s just his personality.”
The hard work in the offseason paid off even more than the Perez’s could have expected. Andrew went from cut from the JV team as a freshman to a member of the varsity as a sophomore.
Felix recalls the story with a laugh, “We had worked a lot on long throws. [At the tryouts] He threw balls from the corners all the way to home plate. So, the coaches told him, ‘Don’t come back to JV tryouts, just go to varsity tryouts’.”
From not making the team his freshman year, Perez morphed into a star pitcher at Timber Creek. He was named the team’s pitcher of the year as a senior and Honorable Mention All-State after posting a 1.95 ERA with 112 strikeouts in 51.2 innings.
After a tremendous high school career, Perez was given the opportunity to pitch for the University of South Florida Bulls. Shortly into Andrew’s college career, adversity struck once again.
“I was initially a mid-week starter. There’s one that still haunts me, it was maybe my second start at Bethune-Cookman. I just wasn’t having it. I think I went 0.2 innings, I got a double play, but I walked three guys before that and walked another three after that.”
In times like these, Perez turned to a saying that his grandmother, Ana Rosa, would often repeat: “Paciencia y Fe”. The saying translates to “Patience and Faith.” To this day, Andrew writes “P+F” under the brim of his cap and has the saying inscribed on his glove. Ana Rosa, who was Andrew’s maternal grandmother, lived with the Perez family for over 20 years before she passed away. Perez’s eldest sister, Angelique Perez, fondly remembered the impact of her grandmother.
“She was always very positive. She always taught us that we could do anything as long as we had faith and were patient that we could do anything through Christ.”
Upon moving to the bullpen, patience and faith continued to propel him to new heights.
“Once I went to the bullpen, my work ethic I thought before was already pretty good. But, it was an opportunity to push myself even more, I got with the strength and conditioning coach there and just took a big advantage of learning about myself physically and mentally.”
In his sophomore season of 2017, Perez recorded a 2.87 ERA while racking up six saves. Most notably, Perez racked up his first save of the season in a 4–2 win over the Florida State Seminoles. It was the first win for USF against Florida State since 1989. That performance earned Perez the nickname he still bears today, “El Plátano” .
“El Plátano” means “the banana”; it’s a reference to Dominican plantain-based dishes that Perez’s mother made for him at home. Miguelina Rosa had emigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic with her parents at the age of three. Additionally, Perez’s father, Felix, had emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba with his parents at the age of seven. The couple met in New York while they were both students at Manhattan College.
After the win against Florida State, USF bullpen catcher Adrian De Armas, who also had Dominican roots, put a platano in Perez’s locker. From that point on the nickname stuck. Perez’s sister, Ashley, even remembers Bulls fans waving plaintains in the air when he entered the game. The nickname lives on through Perez’s Twitter handle: @El_PlatanoPerez
Building on his success against the Seminoles, “El Plátano” went on to a tremendous career with the Bulls. Perez finished eighth in USF history with 19 saves, and he was named second-team All-American Athletic Conference in his junior season. His success at the college level led the White Sox to select Perez in the eighth round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Upon entering the White Sox system, Perez found that he could benefit his team through more than just his baseball abilities.
Having grown up in the United States as the son of first generation Americans from the Dominican Republic and Cuba, Perez saw an opportunity to bring his teammates together, while also learning more about his own roots.
“When I was in college, Spanish was rarely spoken. When I came out here, it was a great opportunity for me to bring the two together, speaking Spanish and speaking English.”
In professional sports, a language barrier can be difficult to navigate. But, Perez has helped to increase the chemistry between his teammates, especially in the bullpen.
“Now you’ll see [Luis] Ledo trying to speak English and Sous [Bennett Sousa] trying to speak Spanish, it’s funny because they have conversations you weren’t able to see before.”
Along with translating conversations in the bullpen, Perez has aided his Latin American teammates in transitioning to American life. Perez’s middle sister, Ashley, has seen how Andrew has helped his teammates with tasks that may seem easy, but can be difficult without knowing much English.
“He would take his teammates to the bank and to go grocery shopping. He’s been a great help for them.”
In addition to the positive impact Perez has had on his teammates, his parents enjoy visiting and interacting with Andrew’s teammates. Visits to both Kannapolis and Winston-Salem have left a lasting impact on Miguelina Rosa.
“It’s been great. For me, as a mom, I know it’s hard for their families to travel to North Carolina. When I’m there, we want to see the guys and say hello.”
Last season, while Perez was pitching with the Kannapolis Intimidators, infielder Luis Curbelo touched the hearts of the Perez family.
Felix Perez recalled the day saying, “Luis Curbelo came by and gave my wife a hug and said “I’m going to give you a hug because my mom is so far away.””
As first generation college graduates, Miguelina Rosa and Felix Perez instilled an outstanding work ethic into all of their children. Although it is surprising to see the youngest Perez become a professional baseball player, it is not surprising for Felix to see his son succeed.
“I never dreamed [of Andrew’s baseball career], this was a secondary blessing, our goal was for them to go forward with college. If Andrew wasn’t going to do well in sports, his grades were really good.”
While Andrew thrives on the baseball field, Angelique Perez earned a Masters degree in nursing and Ashley Perez is currently a student in law school.
After being cut from his baseball team as freshman, Andrew Perez persevered to make the varsity as a sophomore. When he struggled as a starter early in his college career, he seized an opportunity in the bullpen. Each time he has faced adversity in his life, Perez has flourished.
It’s a tie game in the top of the ninth inning with runners at first and second and nobody out.
El Plátano stuck out the side.
