Odalis Perez's Charitable Contributions

You know who's a charming guy? Recently demoted Dodgers starter Odalis Perez, that's who.

[Perez] stopped his O's 45's program, in which he bought 45 tickets for inner-city school children to attend his starts, after losing his starting job. He said he would not reinstate the program now that he is starting again because he felt he never got enough credit from the club or the public for his charitable contributions. "When you spend your own money you want to be recognized for that," Perez said. "I don't want to be a hero, but just pay more attention to what I'm doing. People don't want to give me the recognition for it."

You know what? We actually find this somewhat refreshing. For all the athletes who talk about all the charity work they do but aren't looking for publicity for it — while of course telling us all about it — here's one who makes no bones about it: He does charity work for the good publicity, and if he doesn't get the good publicity, he's not doing it. There's a consistency there that we admire. And besides, kids: You don't want Dodger tickets anyway. The beer is never cold enough.

Odalis No Idealist [Press Enterprise]