page_title: Tony Pérez
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Tony Pérez / Career / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Tony Perez managing the Cincinnati Reds during Spring Training in 1993 in Bradenton, Florida
context_page_description: Atanacio "Tony" Pérez Rigal, is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and third baseman from 1964 through 1986, most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. He also played for the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies.
  A seven-time All-Star, Pérez averaged more than 100 runs batted in per season from 1970 to 1976 for the powerful Cincinnati team that became known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the mid-1970s. Variously nicknamed "Big Dog", "Big Doggie", "Doggie", and "The Mayor of Riverfront", he was one of the most popular players in Reds history.
  After his playing career, Pérez became a coach and later managed the Reds and the Florida Marlins. From 1993 through the 2017 season, he was Special Assistant to the General Manager with the Marlins. In 1998, Pérez was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
context_section_description: Pérez was a seven-time All-Star who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 1967 All-Star Game. He
  was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1998. On May 27, 2000, in an on-field pre-game ceremony at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) with family and former teammates and managers, the Reds retired his number, 24.
  In 2000, Pérez was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, garnering 385 votes on 499 ballots for a total of 77.15%, just over the three-quarters minimum required for induction. He was inducted in July 2000 along with Sparky Anderson, Carlton Fisk, Bid McPhee and Turkey Stearnes. In his induction speech, he said, "I doubt that a king at his coronation feels better than me today." Each year since his induction, he has attended the weekend ceremonies, including riding in the annual parade and playing in the annual golf outing and old-timers' baseball game.
  Pérez was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2001 at a pre-game ceremony held at the San Francisco Giants' Pacific Bell Park.  That same year he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 2001 All-Star Game at the Seattle Mariners' Safeco Field; he had played at the Mariners' previous home, the Kingdome, during the 1979 All-Star Game. Pérez in 1998 was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors those that have made significant achievements in the Caribbean Series. He was one of 24 inaugural inductees into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. He was inducted in 2010 to the Cuban Sports Hall of Fame.
  In 2011, with Pérez and his sons in attendance at opening ceremonies of the Museo del Deporte de Puerto Rico in Guaynabo, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, his adopted homeland, presented him with a surprise honor. He was proclaimed an official "native son" of Puerto Rico "for his dedication to the commonwealth as a family and community member, and for his impressive baseball accolades while representing the island." Also present were fellow Hall-of-Famers Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Alomar plus Vera Clemente, widow of Roberto Clemente.
  On August 10, 2014 at the annual Reds Hall of Fame Induction Gala, former Reds teammates Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan along with Pérez himself announced that the Reds would erect a statue of Pérez outside Great American Ball Park.
  On the weekend of August 21–22, 2015, the Cincinnati Reds held Tony Pérez Weekend during a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. At least a dozen players of the Big Red Machine were part of a post-game ceremony that Friday's night. On Saturday, a bronze statue of Pérez was unveiled near the entrance to Great American Ball Park. Fans attending the game  received replica statues, and there was a pre-game ceremony honoring Pérez, followed by him throwing the ceremonial first pitch.
caption: Perez managing the Cincinnati Reds during Spring Training in 1993 in Bradenton, Florida
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