Dominican police say Pascual Perez slain at home

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - Former major league pitcher Pascual Perez, who had a troubled 11-season career that included two suspensions for drug use, was killed at his home in the Dominican Republic in an apparent robbery, police said Thursday.

Perez, who last played for the New York Yankees in 1991, was found with a severe head wound in a town west of the capital, Santo Domingo, and there was evidence at the scene to suggest that whoever killed him had been searching for money, said Joel Valdemiro, a prosecutor who is involved in the investigation.

No one was in custody and authorities did not reveal whether they had any suspects. Police said there were several assailants and that the house in the town of Don Gregorio appeared to have been ransacked.

"It's an act of criminality, unfortunately,'' Valdemiro said.

Perez's brother Carlos, a former pitcher for the Dodgers, confirmed his death.

Perez's ex-wife Maritza Montero found his body about 8:30 a.m. Thursday and investigators said he appeared to have been slain about eight hours earlier.

The precise cause of death has not been determined but officials said Perez, who had suffered severe kidney problems in recent years, had a fractured skull from a blow to the head.

Perez, 55, played 11 seasons of major league baseball and compiled a lifetime record of 67-68 with the Braves, Pirates, Expos and Yankees. But he was in and out of trouble for much of his career.

While playing for the Atlanta Braves, he was suspended in April 1984 following his Jan. 9 arrest in the Dominican Republic on charges of cocaine possession.

He spent two months in drug rehabilitation in 1989 while with the Expos, after failing to complete drug rehabilitation programs twice before, and avoided a suspension only by agreeing to accept a minimum one-year suspension if he tested positive for cocaine again.

In March 1992, the commisssioner's office suspended him after a failed test the day he arrived for spring training with the Yankees. At the time he was entering the final season of a three-year, $5.7 million contract. He never returned to major league baseball.

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Dionisio Soldevila contributed to this report.