Your 1981 Red Sox Pt. 19: Tony Perez

In this series, I will look at each player who played in 1981, the year I was born. Because, why not?

Here we come to future Hall of Famer Tony Perez.  I have discussed him at length on my Red Sox in Cooperstown post.  He joined the Red Sox as a free agent after a few seasons in Montreal to provide some pop at first base after the free agent defection of Bob Watson.  He turned in a pretty impressive season in 1980, leading the team in home runs (25) and RBIs (105), which were his best numbers in several years, and hit .275/.320/.467.  It was his last great season.

But this is about his 1981 season, which was not so great.  Perez played in 84 of the 108 games in the strike-shortened season, with 56 games at first and the rest as the designated hitter.  His numbers declined in his age 39 season.  The power numbers were to be expected somewhat as it was a shorter season, but he only managed to hit nine home runs and drive in 39 runs.  He also only knocked eleven doubles and three triples.  His slash line was a similarly unimpressive .252/.310/.395, numbers that were a far cry from his Hall of Fame numbers of previous seasons.  After leading the team in home runs and RBIs the year before, he was fourth on the team in home runs (behind Dwight Evans, Jim Rice and, oddly, Dave Stapleton) and fifth on the team in RBIs (behind Evans, Rice, Carl Yastrzemski and Carney Lansford).  

Perez is not really remembered for his time in Boston, but he did have a very strong season in 1980.  His 1981 was not really impressive, but he was still an important part of the offense.  Unfortunately, his decline certainly contributed to the team's overall mediocre record.

Perez held on for several more seasons.  His slash numbers came back a little the next season, but he played in even fewer games.  He would never again hit double digits in home runs or play 100 games.  It would take several years before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame and he wears a Reds cap on his plaque, as he should.