One of baseball's greatest run
producers, Perez retired as the
14th-best RBI man in ML history.
After sharing Cincinnati's
first-base job in his first two
years, Perez was switched to third
base from 1967 to 1972 to get
slugger
Lee May into the lineup
For ten years (1967-76) Perez was
one of the leaders of The Big Red
Machine, six times topping 100 RBI.
With Perez in the infield, the Reds
won four pennants. In 1970, his top
season, he hit .317 with 40 homers
and 134 RBI. He belted three home
runs in the 1975 WS against the Red
Sox, two in Game Five, and one in
Game Seven when
Bill Lee tried to fool him with
a soft lob.
He later had several excellent
years for Montreal and Boston, and
he remained a dangerous pinch hitter
for several seasons after his days
as a regular ended. He was often
compared to first baseman
Orlando Cepeda, and Perez's
final homer in 1986 tied him with
Cepeda at 379 for the most career
homers by a Latin player.
Perez joined the Marlins' front
office after a brief managerial
stint with the Reds in 1993. He was
tabbed as Florida's interim skipper
when
John Boles was fired in May 2001.
