The 1975 Reds grabbed the final ticket to the semifinals of the Press Room Pass Strat Madness Tournament as they entertain the (3) 1911 Philadelphia A’s.
Cincinnati’s Tony Perez had the hometown faithful cheering as he clubbed an eighth-inning homer to give the Reds a 3-2 win over the Giants. George Foster began the eighth with a triple off Giants starter Red Ames. Perez followed with his two-run blast to put the Reds in front.
Reds starter Fred Norman closed things out with a perfect ninth. Sam Mertes put the Giants up 1-0 in the fourth with a RBI triple.
Cincinnati finally answered in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Ken Griffey. In the top of the eighth, Roger Bresnahan responded with a solo homer to make it 2-1.
IN REAL LIFE:
In 1975, Tony Perez hit 20 homers and drove in 109 with a .282 batting average. During the post-season that he hit four homers and had 11 RBI. Two of the long balls game in the fifth game of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox to help the Big Red Machine win the first of back-to-back titles.
Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, Perez was the RBI producer for Cincinnati in his first stint with the Reds from 1964 to 1976.
A seven-time all-star and game’s Most Valuable Player in 1967, Perez knocked in 90 or more runs from 1967 to 1976 with a career-high 129 in 1970. He continued that production in 1977 after a trade to Montreal as he had 91 RBI to give him 11 straight seasons at that level.
After three seasons with the Expos, he spent three years with the Red Sox, which included 25 homers and 105 RBIs in 1980.
In 1983, Perez was a member of the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies along with former Reds teammates Pete Rose and Joe Morgan.
From 1984 to 1986, he finished his career back in Cincinnati with 379 homers and 1,652 RBI.