Tampa Bay Rays' Fernando Perez notes cultural difference between north and south

• Update, 10/2/09: Suzyn Waldman on Yankee radio mentions Perez went to Columbia and "he also went to Peddie which is a terrific prep school."

Perez hit a 3 run homerun for the Tampa Rays in Yankee Stadium today. Of local interest, he's a graduate of Columbia University and of the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, a demanding and selective private high school. From Perez' interview in Baseball America, 4/22/08:

• "Northern views on academics vs. athletics

(Baseball America, Perez): "You can't really succeed if you don't do it. Usually the high school kid who can play a bunch of sports, the parents are telling him, 'Maybe you should give a few of those up so you can maybe make a run at a scholarship.' I don't think it's good. It's really a limited experience.

• I'm really glad my parents never really pushed me into anything like that. They just made sure I was having fun with it."

"Baseball was really just a thing I liked, but soccer was the really serious sport.

• I was in a really intense academic high school (Peddie School, Hightstown, N.J.) and
• my priorities on everything changed.

• That's common in the north. Up north, when a great athlete quits sports, it's not a big deal as long as he's still going to school.

In the South, when a great athlete quits sports,

• something is mortally wrong with him.""

(Item at end of article).

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