DODGERS NOTEBOOK: PEREZ FELT PRESSURED.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO - Odalis Perez's season apparently is over, but true to form, he isn't going into the offseason quietly.

In an interview tinged with frustration, Perez criticized Dodgers management, the media and, indirectly, his own teammates over their respective roles in the controversy that has engulfed Perez over the past eight days regarding his partially torn fingernail.

Perez said he felt pressured into making his scheduled start Monday, in which he allowed four runs in one inning, because of media criticism and published comments by teammates and team management that questioned Perez after he skipped a start Wednesday.

``It was all the pressure on me; I've got to try,'' Perez said before Tuesday's game. ``Because if I missed (Monday) night's start, (Tuesday) in the newspapers it would have been something (negative). I don't want people to think that. I want people to know that I want to be out there.

``Do you think I want to be out there pitching like that? Do you think it's fair for me to go out and even try? No. Next time, I'm not going to do it.''

Perez developed a blister in the first inning Monday on the middle finger of his pitching hand and pronounced himself unavailable for what was to be his final start of the regular season, Saturday in San Francisco. Perez said he would not seek treatment for the blister in the next several days.

``As soon as I threw the first pitch and saw the finger, there was a blister on it,'' Perez said. ``The first pitch. And I told Alex (Cora), `Alex, look, there's a blister already.' ''

Dodgers officials Tuesday rejected any suggestion they pressured Perez into making the start. In the days before his start, Perez met with manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn and repeatedly assured both he was healthy enough to pitch.

``I didn't think (the blister) would happen and neither did Odalis,'' Colborn said. ``He played catch the day before, and he felt fine in his warm- ups.''

But Perez's main problem with management is that they didn't support him last week, when teammates and management were critical of Perez skipping the start and the way he handled the ensuing controversy. Perez apparently was looking for a public statement of support that never came.

``If they want to protect a guy who they know is a warrior,'' Perez said, ``(and) if they are in charge and they know what is happening, they would be the first ones to say, `Hey, the kid is hurt, the kid is not able to pitch and he's not going to pitch.' ''

``If they see my finger, my nail, and they know I'm hurt, they should talk to (reporters) and say, `The kid is a real pitcher. He's not able to pitch.' ''

Perez, who also came under criticism this season for comments about the Dodgers' offense and front office, said he didn't know whether the situation could be resolved. A Dodgers official last week said the team would take Perez's comments into consideration when deciding whether to trade him.

``I don't know,'' Perez said about his desire to return. ``I would love to, because I feel comfortable in L.A. But if I have to go somewhere else, that's not my decision. We'll see what happens in the offseason.

``The thing is that the truth hurts. When you say the truth, people aren't going to like it.''

--Keeping secrets? Kazuhisa Ishii didn't tell Dodgers coaches he was feeling ill during his start Sunday, and Tuesday Colborn said the illness played a role in Ishii's poor performance. Ishii gave up five runs in three-plus innings.

``I would believe it had more to do with it than he would admit,'' Colborn said.

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- Rich Hammond