Antonio Pérez Rigal

He became a permanent integral element of the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine teams in the 1970s. Cuban-born, he left his job at a sugar mill in La Habana and signed with the Reds organization.

In 1967, he completed the first of his seven campaigns with 100 runs batted in (RBI), and finished his career with a total of 1,652 RBI over 23 seasons in the Major Leagues.

Everyone respected his ability to get a hit at the right moment, and he drove in three home runs in the 1975 World Series, including a two-run homer in game 7, one of the two world championships he won.

Named most valuable player in the Pacific Coast League in 1964, when he played for the San Diego Padres. Pérez batted .309 with 34 home runs and 107 RBI. His performance earned him a promotion to the Reds at the end of the 1964 season.

After playing third base in the early part of his career with the Cincinnati Reds, from 1972 onward he was the starting first baseman. Until his trade in December 1976, Pérez was a key member of the so-called Big Red Machine. Apart from his years with the Reds (1964-1976, 1984-1986), he also played for the Montreal Expos (1977-1979), Boston Red Sox (1980-1982), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1983).

Pérez was one of the leading RBI drivers of his generation, driving in 100 or more runs seven times in his 23-year career. In an eleven-year period from 1967 to 1977, Pérez achieved 90 or more RBI per year, with a high of 129 runs batted in in 1970. During the 1970s, Pérez was second in all major leagues in RBI, with 954, behind his teammate Johnny Bench.

The 1970 campaign was his best year statistically: in addition to his 129 runs batted in, Pérez batted .317, with 40 home runs and scored 107 runs. He finished in third place in the most valuable player voting behind Billy Williams and the winner Johnny Bench, his teammate on the Cincinnati Reds, who had one of the best offensive seasons in the history of catchers that year (.293/45/148), and also won a Gold Glove.

Starting in 1970, the Reds went to the World Series four times in seven years, winning the world series in 1975 and 1976, with Pérez as the team's starter. He departed after 1976 (after sweeping the National League Championship Series and World Series against the Phillies and Yankees respectively) to Montreal, and the Big Red Machine—considered one of the greatest baseball teams of all time—disbanded. After Pérez's departure, Cincinnati never reached the series again, reaching the playoffs only once more in 1979.

At age 38, in 1980, he had a very good first season with the Red Sox in which he finished in the top 10 in the American League in walks (11), home runs (25), and runs batted in (105), and won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. Unfortunately, in the same season he also ranked in the top 10 in strikeouts and led all American League batters in hitting into 25 double plays, this last statistic illustrating the decline in his ability to drive in runs. Still a feared batter based on his reputation, Pérez was also a reserve player on the 1983 National League Champion Phillies, and batted .242 in his fifth World Series appearance.

Tony Pérez was selected to the All-Star Game seven times and was voted Most Valuable Player of that event in 1967. The game, played on July 11, 1967, at Anaheim Stadium, went to 15 innings and ranks as the longest All-Star Game in history. It was Pérez's home run against future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter that gave the National League the victory.

In 1970, Pérez hit the first home run at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.

He finished his career with a batting average of .279, 379 home runs, 1,652 RBI, and 1,272 runs scored.

Tony Pérez was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2000, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He received the honor by reaching 385 out of a total of 499 votes (77.15%), more than the minimum three-quarters needed for induction. In a 1976 article in Esquire magazine, sports columnist Harry Stein published "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," which consisted of five ethnic baseball teams. Pérez, a Cuban, was the third baseman on Stein's Latin American team.

After retiring as an active player, Pérez was manager of the Reds and the Florida Marlins. He currently holds the position of Special Assistant to the General Manager with the Marlins.

He played in the major leagues from July 26, 1964 through October 5, 1986.

Source: Wikipedia