Regal began his distinguished 23 year career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1964. Soon after, he became was known as one of baseball's best clutch hitters and RBI-men of the 1970s (31).

At the young age of 17, Perez signed with the Cincinnati Reds while he was still in Cuba. He received no signing bonus; only a plane ticket and $2.50 for an exit visa(32). Perez wanted to be successful in baseball just like his favorite player, Minnie Minoso who was idolized in Cuba.

One day before his retirement in 1986, Perez hit his 379th career home run, tying Orlando Cepeda for the most career homeruns by a Latin-American player (that record would be broken later by Jose Canseco) and 1,652 RBI, which is also tops among Latino players (33).
After his retirement, Tony Perez anxiously awaited a call from Cooperstown announcing he would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  It took him eight years before being elected with 77.15 percent of the vote in January 2000 (34).