Javier Pérez (Germany)

Javier Pérez

• Born June 3, 1972

Biographical Information

Javier Pérez played in the Bundesliga and for the German national team. The German Baseball and Softball Federation lists his nationality as "USA" so presumably he obtained a German passport after playing in Germany for a while.

Bundesliga-1 stats are first available for 1994; he was 4 for 8 with two doubles for the Tier Cardinals that year. He moved to the Elmshorn Alligators in '95 and went 6 for 15 with four walks, two doubles, five runs and five RBI. He did not play in the Bundesliga-1 in 1996. In 1997, he hit .449/.550/.735 for Tier, was 0-1 with a 8.68 ERA and fielded .887. Had he qualified, he would have been 8th in the southern Bundesliga-1 in average.

His next Bundesliga-1 appearance came in 2002 with the Saarlouis Hornets. Playing shortstop, catcher and pitcher regularly, he fielded .961, was 1-3 with a 4.96 ERA and batted .280/.371/.507 with 20 runs in 28 games. He tried for 6th in the league with three home runs. In 2003, he hit .294/.514/.431 with 21 walks and 20 runs in 26 games, was 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA and fielded .977, appearing mainly at catcher. He was 3rd in the league in walks and was 3rd among catchers with 31% caught stealing, behind Moritz Höhlein and Markus Gienger.

Pérez caught 47.8% stealing in 2004, when he was back as a SS/C/P, fielding .962. He had a 3-0, 3.15 record and produced at a .298/.445/.425 clip, drawing 19 walks in 28 games. He tied David Fowler and Jens Heymer for 4th in walks, had the second-lowest K rate (only 4 K; Gienger was better), was 10th in OBP and easily led in caught stealing percentage (15.4% ahead of Martin Dewald). He was with Germany for the 2004 B-Level European Championship, going 7 for 12 with a walk, a double, two homers, six runs and nine RBI as Germany routed the field.

Javier moved to the Mannheim Tornados in 2005, batting .290/.374/.419, going 1-3 with three saves a 3.25 ERA and fielding .939, primarily at third base. He tied Sascha Lutz and Michael Wells for 3rd with 9 doubles and was 3rd in saves (behind Philipp Hoffschild and Dominik Hartinger). In the 2005 European Championship, he was 0 for 2, backing up Dominik Wulf at third base. He also pitched one game (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 HB, 1 BB, 1 K).

He returned to Saarlouis in 2006, hitting .292/.394/.506 with 24 RBI in 26 games. He was 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA in his last season pitching regularly, fielding .963, mostly at the hot corner. He was 7th in RBI, 7th in walks (14) and tied for 3rd in errors (13). In '07, he was at .264/.340/.418, mostly catching but playing a fair bit of third. His 6.6% strikeout ratio was 5th-lowest in the loop.

In 2008, the veteran fielded .914 as a 3B/C/1B for the Hornets. He hit .297/.356/.396. He tied for 3rd in the league with 14 errors but his 4.4% K rate was second-best, behind Simon Gühring. The next season was his last; he hit .232/.333/.333 for Saarlouis, playing third and second primarily. From 1994-2009, he had batted .298/.404/.457 in 237 regular-season games in Germany, with 115 walks, 158 runs and 132 RBI. He was 10-9 with a 4.19 ERA.

Primary Source: German Baseball and Softball Federation