Tony Pérez

Atanasio Pérez Rigal (born May 14, 1942 in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba), more commonly known as Tony Pérez, is a former Major League Baseball player. He was also known by the nickname "Big Dog," "Big Doggie," and "Doggie."

Until he was traded in December,, Pérez was a key member of Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine". Apart from his years with the Reds (1964–76, 1984–86), he also played for the Montreal Expos (1977–79), Boston Red Sox (1980–82) and Philadelphia Phillies (1983). He finished his career with a .279 batting average, 379 home runs, 1652 runs batted in and 1272 runs scored. After retiring, Pérez went on to coach and manage the Reds and manage the Florida Marlins. He currently holds the title of Special Assistant to the General Manager with the Marlins. He has been with the Marlins' organization since 1993. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Early career
Tony Pérez played his first minor league game for Reds' Class D affiliate in Geneva, New York, at age 17 on May 2, 1960 in the season-opener for the New York–Pennsylvania League team. Playing second base, he went hitless in a 17–16 Redlegs win, and in the next game he got the team's only hit (a single) in a 5–0 loss. On June 25 he was placed on the disabled list. That same day, he was replaced on the active roster by just-signed 19-year-old Pete Rose, who was inserted into the starting lineup at second base. Upon Pérez's return, Rose remained at second base and Pérez played third base. Another of his teammates was Martín Dihigo Jr., son of Baseball Hall of Fame member and Negro leagues great and Cuban native Martín Dihigo. Pérez hit .279 with 6 home runs in 104 games, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

In 1961 he again played for Geneva and set several team batting records, batting .348 with 27 home runs in 121 games. In 1962 he was promoted to the Class B Rocky Mount Leafs in the Carolina League, and in 100 games hit .292 with 18 home runs and 74 RBI. In 1963 he was promoted to the Macon Peaches of the Class AA South Atlantic League, where in 69 games he hit .309 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI before being promoted that same year to the Class AAA San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. For San Diego that year, in 8 games he hit .379 with 1 home run and 5 RBI.

Playing for the Padres in 1964, Pérez was named Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast League. Pérez hit .309 with 34 home runs and 107 RBI.

He was called up to the Reds and played his first two games in a doubleheader on July 26, 1964 at Cincinnati's Crosley Field. In his first-ever game, he started at first base, and in his first at-bat drew a walk against lefty Joe Gibbon. Overall he officially went 0–2 against Gibbon and Don Schwall in a 7–2 Reds win, then went 0–4 against pitcher Bob Veale in a 5–1 Pirates win. The following day, starting at first base and batting fifth at Milwaukee in an 11–2 Reds win, he got his first hit, a second-inning double off Denny Lemaster, and then scored his first run on a Johnny Edwards double. In the seventh inning he got his first RBI, a single off Lemaster to score Frank Robinson. From 1964 through 1966, he platooned at first base, primarily with Deron Johnson and Gordy Coleman. His first career home run, a grand slam, came in the Reds' second game of 1965, at home in Crosley Field against Milwaukee — and again against Denny Lemaster. The grand slam came with 2 outs and scored Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson, and Deron Johnson. Pérez became the Reds' starter at third base in 1967 and was selected to his first All-Star team in. The game, played on July 11, 1967, at Anaheim Stadium, went into 15 innings and was then the longest All-Star Game in history. (The 2008 All Star Game also went to 15 innings, and is the longest All-Star Game in terms of elapsed time, at four hours 50 minutes.) It was Pérez's home run off future fellow Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter that propelled the National League to victory. He was subsequently voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1967 All-Star Game.

In, Pérez hit the first home run in Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. The 1970 campaign was his finest year, statistically: in addition to his 129 RBIs, Pérez hit .317, slugged 40 home runs and scored 107 runs. He came in third in the Most Valuable Player voting behind Billy Williams and winner Johnny Bench, his Cincinnati Reds teammate who had one of the best offensive seasons in the history of catchers that year (.293/45/148), in addition to winning a Gold Glove.

Big Red Machine
After playing third base in the early part of his career with the Cincinnati Reds, from 1972 onward he starred at first base. Pérez was one of the premier RBI men of his generation, driving in 100 or more runs seven times in his 23-year long career. In an eleven-year stretch from 1967 to 1977, Pérez drove in 90 or more runs each year, with a high of 129 RBIs in 1970. During the decade of the 1970s, Pérez was second among all major-leaguers in RBI, with 954, behind only his teammate Johnny Bench.

Beginning in, the Reds went to the World Series four times in seven years, winning back-to-back world championships in and , with Pérez starting at first base. Following the Red's sweep of the Phillies in the League Championship Series and New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series (the only time a team has ever swept the postseason since the League Championship Series was introduced in 1969), Pérez was traded to the Montreal Expos with Will McEnaney for Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray. After his trade, the "Big Red Machine" — considered one of baseball's all-time greatest teams — sputtered and never again got into the Series, reaching the playoffs but one more time in. Sparky Anderson, the Reds manager during the championships of the 1970s, has stated in many interviews since that Pérez was the leader, and heart and soul of those teams.

After three seasons in Montreal (in which he hit 46 home runs with 242 RBIs and a .281 batting average), for the season, Pérez signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox. In his first season with the Red Sox, he finished in the top ten in the American League in intentional walks (11), home runs (25) and RBIs (105), and won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

Big Red Machine reunion
For the season, Pérez reunited with "Big Red Machine" teammates Pete Rose and Joe Morgan on the Philadelphia Phillies. Still a feared hitter based on his reputation, Pérez was a reserve player on the 1983 National League Champion Phillies, and batted .242 in his five World Series appearances. Following the season, he returned to the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent, where he remained until his retirement following the season.

In 1984 at age 42 he became the oldest player to hit a walk-off pinch-hit home run (off the Pirates' Don Robinson), he was the oldest player (44) to hit a grand slam (until Julio Franco broke the record at age 46 in 2004), and he was named National League Player of the Week during the final week of his career at age 44, when he went 8-for-19 with a home run, three doubles, and 6 runs batted in.

His final career hit and RBI came on October 4, 1986 at Riverfront Stadium when he hit a solo home run off San Diego Padres pitcher Ed Whitson in a 10–7 Reds win, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The following day was the Reds' last game of the year and the final game of his career. In his final at-bat, he flied out against Andy Hawkins in a 2–1 Padres' win.

Legacy
Pérez was a seven time All-Star who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1967 All-Star Game. In a 1976 article in Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Pérez, a Cuban, was the third baseman on Stein's Latin team. (Tony Pérez was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1998.)

In 2000, Pérez was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He had the honor of being elected by the Baseball Writers, garnering 385 votes on 499 ballots for a total of 77.15%, just over the three-quarters minimum required for induction. Tony Perez was also inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame.

Personal
Atanasio Pérez Rígal was born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba on May 14, 1942, the son of José Manuel and Teodora (Rígal) Perez. He had three sisters and two brothers. Until coming to the U.S. in 1960, he was known as "Tany" (pronounced TAH-nee) from his first name, Atanasio. He attended Central Violeta High School, where he played shortstop on the school's baseball team. He was signed to a pro contract in 1960 at age 17 by Cincinnati Reds scout Tony Pacheco while playing on the Camaguey sugar factory team for which he worked.

While playing winter ball in Puerto Rico in 1964, he met Juana ("Pituka") de la Cantera, who grew up in Puerto Rico but was also of Cuban descent. They married in 1965. They both became American citizens in October, 1971, in Cincinnati.

They had two sons, both born in Cincinnati — Victor Pérez, in 1968, and Eduardo Pérez, in 1969. Victor played one year in the Reds' minor league system. He attended Xavier University in Cincinnati and later went to New York, where he attended acting school and became a professional actor, first in New York, and currently for several years in London, England.

Eduardo was an All-American third baseman at Florida State University and played in the College World Series. He was drafted in the first round by the California Angels, played Major League Baseball for 13 seasons, served as an ESPN commentator for five years, in 2009 he managed Leones de Ponce to the Puerto Rican League championship, and in 2011 and 2012 he was hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. He was named bench coach of the Houston Astros staff of manager Bo Porter for the 2013 season. He is married to Mirba and they have two daughters.

In November, 1972, Tony Pérez was granted a 20-day visa to return to Cuba for the first time since a 1963 trip; however, the visa did not permit his wife and children to go, according to "Latino Baseball Legends: An Encyclopedia" by Lew Freedman. He took 17 suitcases of gifts, clothes, and medical supplies and reunited with his family in Central Violeta, Cuba -- a 400-mile train ride from Havana.

Tony's father, Jose Manuel — with whom Tony worked alongside as a teenager at the Camaguey sugar factory, hauling and stamping the company's name on the bags — died in 1979 at age 84. Tony has stated that, during his playing career, his family in Cuba would listen to the Voice of America, which would give daily updates on Cuban players playing in the majors.

Tony's mother, Teodora, was 88 when Tony called her with the news in 2000 that he had been elected to the Hall of Fame. Tony was able to make a return visit to Cuba in 2002, only this time with his sons, Victor and Eduardo. Tony's mother, Teodora, died in 2008. Tony's oldest sister died in 1997.