Ebook Tony Pérez From Cuba to Cooperstown John Erardi Books

Product details Paperback 326 pages Publisher Orange Frazer Pr (April 2, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 1939710758

Tony Pérez From Cuba to Cooperstown John Erardi Books Reviews

• John Erardi has written an essential book for those interested in baseball, the Big Red Machine, Cuban baseball, and Tony Perez in particular. This book is long overdue, but sublimely delivered.
  
  In the glory years of the Big Red Machine, we were often lucky enough to sit in Section 114, eight rows up from the field and right at the end of the Reds dugout. Tony Perez patrolled first base directly in front of us, steady in the field and an RBI machine at the plate. He trotted out to first when the Reds were announced, and I knew he would trot easily back at the end of the half-inning, snag a ball and disappear into the dugout.
  
  I knew he was Doggie, automatic for 90 RBIs every year. I knew he had 90 by the All Star break in 1970, and I knew he had won the All Star Game with a home run in the 15th inning in 1967. I knew he pounded Bill Lee’s blooper pitch. I knew he lit up a cigar, maybe a Cuban, at Fountain Square after winning the World Series in 1975. I knew he was the glue in the clubhouse. I knew the Big Red Machine ended when he was traded.
  
  I did not know Tani Perez.
  
  I did not know that at the age I considered sneaking beer into my dorm a big risk, Tani was risking his future by going back home to an increasingly perilous Cuba. I did not know that it was Tani’s father who convinced him to leave, not knowing if they would ever be together again. I did not know he was in Cuba during the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know his family never saw him play pro ball. I did not know that Tani knew others had it worse, because they had been separated from their families as young children. I did not know it would be nine years before he could visit Cuba and see his family again, walk with his father, see his brothers in the sugar plant and the life he had escaped. I did not know his parents would never meet Tani’s wife and sons, because they were not allowed to go with him to Cuba in 1972.
  
  I knew African Americans ballplayerd had to eat out back or in a packed car while traveling in the South, and to stay with black families instead of with the rest of their minor league teammates. I did not appreciate that this was true for young men of all color, including the Cuban minor league players like Tani who managed to make it to the states, only to be presented with challenges of a different sort.
  
  I did not know that the road from Cuba to Cooperstown, so smoothly paved in hindsight, was anything but smooth in reality. And I did not know how far that journey truly spanned. I did not realize that Perez was the first, and so far only, Cuban-born major leaguer to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. I have come to believe that others, starting with Minnie Minoso, should follow.
  
  I did not know how far Antanacio Rigal Perez had already come when he trotted a few feet from the dugout to first base at Riverfront Stadium.
  
  I didn’t know that as a young man. But thanks to John Erardi, I’ve learned.
  
  I place this along Game Six, with a focus on the journey of Luis Tiant Jr., as an important addition to baseball literature and the Cuban connection that remains to be fully explored.
• Yes, “Tony Perez from Cuba to Cooperstown” is the story of the baseball great’s sometimes harrowing journey from a backwater sugar factory to major league baseball’s Hall of Fame (still the only Cuban major leaguer to make it to Cooperstown). But it’s so much more than that. It’s the story of baseball and the many Cubans who have played the game at the highest level. And Erardi treats the reader to a host of interesting stops along the way, from the Spanish-American war to the rise of Fidel Castro and his chilling effect on baseball - in Cuba and the U.S. This author’s research is astounding.
  But the heart of the story is Tony Perez and America’s (and Cuba’s) pastime. Like statistics? They’re here in abundance. Like tales of walk-off homers and athletic heroics? Plenty here, too. Fan of sabermetrics? You’ll love it. So is the joy and the sorrow that Perez (and many other Cuban players) have experienced playing in America.
  John Erardi, an award-winning sports writer who knows his stuff, has told a fascinating story in a most interesting and professional way. This is not only a deeply engrossing book, it’s an honest one, sprinkled liberally with the author’s insights and hilarious asides. Every fan of Tony Perez and the Cincinnati Reds — in fact, any fan of baseball — will love this book. Frankly, the section cataloging the statistics of all 200 Cuban-born players who made it to the majors — even if only for one plate appearance — is worth the price of the book. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
• This book like most sports books was bought as a fan but it turned into an even better book that tells the story of Cuban immigrants in the 50s who worked hard to build a new life,a part of which was baseball,despite prejudice.
• I never realized how tough Tani and many other Cuban ballplayers had it getting to play pro ball in the U.S. Tony was a hero following the Reds when I was a young man and Tony is more of a complete hero as a human being now. Thanks to John Erardi`s excellent research and story telling I have a much greater appreciation for Perez and Cuban MLB players. A must read for Reds fans and every baseball fan.
• my husbands all time favorite. great birthday present for him
• The book was solid in relieving the days of the reds during Perez time . It’s enjoyable recalling those times of the 1960- 1980’s.
  A grade I would give is a B as a letter grade.
• Interesting insight to the life of Tony Perez.
• A great book from both a baseball perspective and a social/cultural context. Educational and eye-opening!!!