Michael Irvin Pérez "Mike" Ortega (born October 19, 1964) is a former American professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player who was a pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 in the Major Leagues

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 for eight seasons in the 1990s. Perez played college baseball

College baseball

College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...

 for the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 and Troy State University

Troy University

Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

, Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 and Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...

.

Perez was born in Yauco, Puerto Rico

Yauco, Puerto Rico

Yauco is a city and municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island by the Caribbean, south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grande and Guánica; and west of Guayanilla. Yauco is spread over 20 wards and Yauco Pueblo...

.

Perez received an athletic scholarship

Athletic scholarship

An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

 to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Joe Arnold

Joe Arnold

Joseph A. "Joe" Arnold is a former American college and professional baseball coach. During his twenty-four seasons as a head coach, Arnold led the college baseball teams at Florida Southern College, the University of Florida, and Polk State College, and also served as the manager of two Class A...

's Florida Gators baseball

Florida Gators baseball

The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. The Florida Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association , and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . They play their home games in Alfred A...

 team in 1985. He also attended Troy University in Troy, Alabama

Troy, Alabama

Troy is a city in Pike County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 18,003. Troy experienced a growth spurt of over 4,000+ people since 2000. The city is the county seat of Pike County....

, and played for the Troy Trojans baseball

Troy Trojans baseball

The Troy baseball team represents Troy University in NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The earliest Troy team on record began play in 1911. The program possesses a 1,422-835-1 overall record since the school began playing baseball and keeping records...

 team. Perez was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the twelfth round of the 1986 MLB Draft.

Perez made his late-season major league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on September 5, 1990, and played for the Cardinals for five seasons from 1990 to 1994. He also played for the Chicago Cubs from 1995 to 1996, and the Kansas City Royals in 1997. Perez appeared in 313 games as a relief pitcher, finished 100 of them, and posted twenty-two saves. He retired after the 1997 season, and finished his major league career with a win-loss record of 24–16, 224 strikeouts, and an earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 (ERA) of 3.56.

See also

• Florida Gators
  Florida Gators
  The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
  
  
• List of Florida Gators baseball players

External links