Sunday, July 23, 2000
All about Tony
BORN
Atanasio Rigal Perez, May 14, 1942, Ciego De Avila, Cuba.
FAMILY
Wife, Pituka; sons Victor, 34, and Eduardo, 30. Victor works in private business in New York. Eduardo is a first baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals.
RESUME
1960: Signed by the Reds
1960;-62: Played two seasons for Gevena of the New York-Penn League; Hit .348 with 27 home runs and 132 RBI his second year there
1964: MVP of the International League, hitting .309 with 34 homers and 109 RBI
1965: Made debut with Reds
1967: Became a regular, hit .290 with 26 homers and 102 RBI, beginning his streak of the 11 straight seasons of 90-RBI or better; Made his first All-Star team; Won the All-Star Game with home run in the 15th inning off Catfish Hunter
1970: Hit the first red-seat home run on Aug. 11, 1970; Hit .317 with 40 home runs and 129 RBI
1975: Hit three homers, including one in Game 7, as Reds beat Red Sox in World Series.
1976: Traded from the Reds to Montreal Expos along with Will McEnaney for pitchers Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray after the season
1983: Won World Series as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
1984: Returned to the Reds and finished his playing career in 1986.
1993: Reds manager for 44 games.
1993-present: Now works in front office for the Florida Marlins.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A seven-time All-Star at first base and third base.
Inducted into Reds Hall of Fame in 1998.
His No. 24 retired by the Reds on May 27, 2000.
He and son Eduardo are only father-and-son combination to hit upper-deck homers at Cinergy Field.
MVP of the 1967 All-Star Game after hitting winning home run in 15th inning.
Had nine seasons with 20 or more homers.
Played in five World Series, four with Reds and one with Philadelphia.
Had seven seasons with 100 RBIs.
Had 1,652 RBIs in his career, highest total among Latin players. Had been the most among any player not in the Hall until he was elected in January by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
His 379 home runs are the most by a Latin American player, a rec
ord he shares with Orlando Cepeda, who is already in the Hall.
HALL ELECTION
Perez fell short eight times before being elected with 77.15 percent of the vote in January.
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