1977 tony perez

tony perez, part of cincinnati's 'big red machine' was traded to the expos in december of 1976, just after the reds had won their second consecutive world championship. here's his 1977 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

the loss of perez was likely no small reason for the reds' failure to win the nl west the next two years, although i prefer to think that the dodgers would have beat the reds regardless.

in montreal, perez matched his power stats - 19 home runs and 91 rbi - from his last year in cincy, but also raised his average from .260 to .283. in 11 games against his former team, perez hit .279 with a homer and 8 rbi. even worse, he continued to kill the dodgers, hitting .417 with 15 hits in 12 games.

as an aside, i was always intrigued by perez' 1978 topps card, and he has yet another 1977 variation out there. both items are discussed today on my other blog - garveyceyrusselllopes.

voici à vous, 1977 tony perez!