Perez, patriarch of MH baseball, inducted into JuCo Hall
MORGAN HILL — There are, essentially, two time frames composing the history of baseball in Morgan Hill: before and after Mike Perez.
It is difficult to envision what the city was like in 1978 when Perez, a San Jose native, became the baseball manager at Live Oak High School. There was no Morgan Hill Pony Baseball, no championship banners hanging at Britton Middle School and no sectional tournaments to host in summer. There was only recreational baseball.
At LOHS, the varsity program was much different than today. The Acorns had not won a league title in more than a decade. Their home field featured a small backstop and a pitching mound that was lower than homeplate, a far cry from the commemorative aura Sarich Field.
Live Oak finished 3-18 in Perez’s first season. The sophomore club posted one victory.
“I had guys playing baseball that didn’t fully understand the game,” Perez recalled with a laugh Tuesday. “I remember watching them and saying, ‘Did that guy really do what he just did?'”
Perez envisioned revolutionizing baseball in Morgan Hill from the ground up, and he knew just the right person to talk to. With the help of his cousin, Joe Gagliardi, then the president of West Zone Pony Baseball, Perez founded MHPB in 1978. The Acorns soon became a powerhouse, capturing back-to-back league titles from 1984-85, and produced their program’s lone Major League player, infielder Rey Sanchez.
Three decades later, Morgan Hill is affectionately nicknamed The Hill by some for good reason. It is a baseball city that is home to two first-class prep programs, headed by managers Perez helped hire, and is one of the strongest Pony Baseball chapters in the country.
As many know, Perez, 56, carried his success to the next level. He built West Valley College baseball into a formidable program in two stops — 1990-03, 2005-07 — and, for that, was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame during the State Championships held May 21-23 in Fresno.
“I’m so grateful and honored to have this award,” Perez, who has lived with his wife, Ellyn, in Morgan Hill for 30 years, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Coaching at Live Oak and, of course, West Valley was just a wonderful time in my life.”
Perez’s career record of 477-247 includes eight conference championships — five straight from 1999-03 — and 11 state playoff appearances. At WVC, he produced 26 All-Americans, nine conference MVPs and five Player of the Year or Big Stick Award winners. Perez also earned Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors eight times.
“You learn a lot about baseball playing for him,” said San Jose Giants pitcher Dave Newton, one of Perez’s former players who is recovering from a second Tommy John surgery in Arizona. “Coming from playing in high school to playing for him is night and day. He gives you the most knowledge you can possibly have.”
Past opposing managers consider Perez one of the classiest in the business. Paul Moore, a former Ohlone College skipper who is now president of the Coaches Association for Community College, looked forward to facing Perez each season. The two remain close friends.
“We had every kind of game imagineable for about 17 years, and they were all good ones,” Moore said. “Mike’s passion for the game extended to his players, which is what all good coaches are able to do. He always had great starting pitching, and his hitters — one through nine — were consistently tough outs.”
Perez’s ties to Morgan Hill baseball still run deep. His sons, Chase and Adam, played with LOHS manager Mark Cummins’ sons, Andrew and Matthew, in Pony Baseball and high school; Adam and Matthew helped deliver Live Oak’s only section title in 2008 under Cummins.
“That was one of my happiest memories,” Perez said. “It was very special for both our families and for Live Oak and Morgan Hill.”
Adam also played for Shorty Gutierrez at Sobrato High School as a freshman.
Gutierrez got to know Perez through San Benito manager Phil Luna, whom Gutierrez coached with at Leigh before coming to SHS.
“Mike’s one of the reasons why I’m at Sobrato. He felt it’d be a good fit for me, coaching his son,” Gutierrez said. “I learned a lot from watching him. The biggest thing he does is prepare his players for everything. He gets the best out of them.”
Perez’s passion for youth baseball has not faded. To him it remains the driving force behind Live Oak and Sobrato’s success.
“Morgan Hill Pony Baseball has been so important. It’s about kids playing together and laying the foundation,” Perez said. “It was a nightmare when we first started it. It’s a lot different now.”
After a three-year retirement from managing, Perez is heading back to the diamond. He was recently hired to be the athletic director and coach at Mission College, a once-proud program that has fallen on hard times.
Who better to right the ship?
