Happy Birthday to Tony Perez, Hall of Fame First Baseman and one of the critical members of the “Big Red Machine” for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s. Perez is also the first Cuban-born baseball player to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Career Statistics (1964-1986):

.279 BA, 2,732 HITS, 379 HR, 1,652 RBI, .341 OBP, 1,272 RUNS

• Seven Time All-Star

• Two-time World Series Champion (1975 & 1976)

During his career, Perez had action at Third Base. However, First Base was his best position, spending 14,348 Innings at First Base, and his Fielding Percentage was .992. Tony Perez’s prime years, 1967-1980, were suitable for driving in 100 or more RBIs, 170 plus HITS, 25-30 Home Runs, and a .284 Average. Sparky Anderson, the skipper for all those Reds teams on multiple occasions, stated that not only was Perez, a leader, but he was also the “Heart and Soul” of those teams.

References:

1. Tony Perez Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/perezto01.shtml

2. Tony Perez via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_P%C3%A9rez#