Perez first arrived here in New York 4 1/2 years ago in a deal that brought back Roberto Hernandez to the Mets in exchange for Xavier Nady. He came very much unpolished but with a lot of potential. He was wild, and could barely get anyone out (sound

familiar?) but with a blazing fastball, and a wicked slider and curve, many batters were prone to striking out against the lefty.

Making his Mets debut on August 26 of that season, he struggled in his first two starts before pitching a complete game shutout in the second

game of a double-header against Atlanta on September 6th. Having only expected to pitch in the regular season, Perez was called upon to pitch Game 4 of the NLCS against St. Louis where he earned his first (and only) post season win, despite giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings. After Steve Trachsel's horrendous performance in Game 3 (what turned out to be his last ever start for the Mets), Perez was called upon to pitch in Game 7. Having

pitched brilliantly for 5 1/3 innings he allowed Jim Edmonds to get on base, then came a moment that shall live on in Met lore.

The next season Ollie won 15 games and had a 3.56 ERA, which led many to believe that he was starting to turn a corner towards consistency. In the 2008 season Perez struggled early in the season, but after the midnight massacre of Willie Randolph and his staff, Ollie performed much better after tweaking his wind-up to more of a bowing motion. After failing to escape the 5th inning in his second to last start, Perez was tapped to pitch what would turn out to be the last ever game at Shea. He went 5 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs in the process. Making many fans including myself feel as though he had turned a corner as was ready to become more consistent.

In 2009 after signing his big contract Perez failed to live up to expectations, going 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA and often struggling with velocity and control allowing 58 walks in 66 innings. 2010

faired no better for Ollie. On May 15th he was sent to the bullpen after refusing to be sent to the minors despite his poor play. June 5th he was put on the 15 day DL with an injury to his right knee. With some people claiming it was a ploy by the team to have Perez sent away, after this the league investigated and declared it was legitimate. From July 21st on he made just six more appearances all in relief including the final game of the 2010 regular season where he walked in the game winning run in the 14th inning.

Ollie may be seen as a complete and total failure by many fans. But but we shouldn't forget those moments that made us think about what could have been.