Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Enquirer Editorial: Finally, Congratulations
Tony Perez finally got the numbers that count: more than 75 percent of baseball writers' votes to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“Doggie,” as he was affectionately known to Big Red Machine fans, might have been inducted sooner if not for his fortune and misfortune to play on a team with superstars such as Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan.
In eight previous votes for the Hall, he also had the misfortune of being matched against other superstars who won glitzier honors of MVP, batting or home-run titles. But finally, justice prevailed this year. Every doggie has his day, and Tony Perez got his due.
Not that his numbers didn't earn him a place in the Hall. His runs-batted-in totals would have made him a sensation on most other teams of his era. He ranks 18th on the all-time RBI list with 1,652 RBIs, ahead of Yankee greats Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio. His 379 home runs are the most by a Latin American player, a record he shares with Orlando Cepeda, who is already in the Hall.
Former Reds Manager Sparky Anderson considers the Perez trade to Montreal one the worst mistakes of his life. Tony was more than just a powerful clutch hitter. He was the kind of clubhouse leader and fierce competitor who goaded fellow teammates to greater output. When someone like that is traded away, an extra dimension of threat is lost. Team leadership does not automatically translate into managerial talent, but it surely contributed to the Reds' later decision to hire him on as manager, for an embarrassingly short stint in 1993.
The slights to Tony Perez are mercifully over. He took them all with unfailing dignity and courtesy, and Cincinnati fans loved him for it.
Younger baseball writers who never had the pleasure to see his authoritative swing or who never put his numbers in the context of his times finally caught on that the Hall of Fame was incomplete without a “Doggie” in it.
Here's a big Reds cheer for Hall of Famer Tony Perez.
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