'Dog' longs for a different lineup

By Michael Dobie | Staff Correspondent

NAPANOCH, N.Y. - They call him Dog. He's serving a life sentence for murder. He's the hardest-throwing pitcher on the all-star softball team at Eastern Correctional Facility.

Arthur Perini looks forward to the annual visit by the Saints prison ministry. A game with the Saints means competition. It also means renewing acquaintances with men Perini says changed his life.

"Through these guys I've found God in my life, and the only reason I'm not in church tonight is because of this game," Perini said during a contest against the Saints in June. "These guys are dynamite. They come in here, they give up their time . . . They're more like friends than anything else. They make me feel like I'm more of a human than a caged animal."

Perini, 41, has been playing the Saints for 14 years. He is on a first-name basis with many of them. The first time he played against them he thought they were just another softball team. The breakthrough came during the postgame religious program, when the Saints gave testimony from their own lives.

"I realized these guys were no different than us," Perini said. "They just had bad, bad breaks but they were able to live through them. But for the grace of God, they're not here instead of us."

Other Eastern inmates have been similarly affected.

"It's actually surreal when you're incarcerated to know that you have outside people who have families and could be doing other things come here with strangers and spend their quality time with us," said Joey Urgitano, who has been in prison since 1988 and is eligible for parole from a life sentence for manslaughter and dealing drugs.

"They don't judge us. They show us love. They bring us God's grace and they give us spirit and they give us hope and inspiration for the present and for the future so that we can be productive citizens upon our release."

Perini, who was 19 when arrested in 1981, helped Eastern beat the Saints, 8-7. He has a standing invitation to join the Saints when he gets released, which could be as early as 2007.

"I'm really looking forward to playing with these guys when I do make it out," Perini said. "I love them like my brothers. Every year they come in it's a hug and a handshake. I look forward to these guys every year."