Marty Perez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marty Perez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shortstop / Second baseman | |
| Born: February 28, 1946 Visalia, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 9, 1969, for the California Angels | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 16, 1978, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .246 |
| Home runs | 22 |
| Runs batted in | 241 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
Martin Roman Perez (born February 28, 1946) is an American former shortstop and second baseman for the California Angels (1969–70), Atlanta Braves (1971–76), San Francisco Giants (1976), New York Yankees (1977) and Oakland Athletics (1977–78).
During his career as a shortstop and second baseman, he was a double play leader in the Texas and Pacific Coast leagues and a member of two championship-winning Minor League teams before being called up to the majors. He helped set an all-time Atlanta Braves' record for double plays in a season and for a season was the San Francisco Giants' most-used second baseman and led National League second basemen in fielding percentage.
Perez was born in Visalia, California, to Martin and Dora (Garcia) Perez. He was the third of five children.
Martin Sr. was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and was a sheet metal worker. Dora was born in Pomona, California and was a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II. She was a posthumous recipient of the Rosie the Riveter Congressional Gold Medal, awarded by the U.S. Congress in 2019 "to the women in the United States who joined the workforce during World War II, providing the aircraft, vehicles, weaponry, ammunition and other material to win the war ..."
Dora's father, identified in records as Mission Indian, attended Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California. Dora's mother was a Yaqui curandera, or traditional healer, from Altar, Sonora, Mexico. The family had close ties to the family of Mike Garcia, the pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, and both referred to each other as cousins.
Perez played football, basketball and baseball for Redwood High School in Visalia. He graduated from Redwood in 1964. He briefly attended College of the Sequoias and served for six years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Minor League career
Perez played shortstop and second base for Idaho Falls, Quad Cities and San Jose from 1964–67, hitting .238 in 113 games and garnering notice for his glove from the National Association of Baseball Writers, which named him to the 1967 Class A All-Stars West Squad.[1] He was promoted in 1968 to the Class AA El Paso Sun Kings in the Texas League.
In El Paso, Perez led Texas League shortstops in assists with 363 and in double plays with 72; the Sun Kings won the Texas League championship that year. The Sporting News described Perez as “an exceptional young shortstop” and reported that the Angels had placed him on its roster.
Perez was promoted in 1969 to the Class AAA Hawaiian Islanders. He led Pacific Coast League shortstops in double plays with 79 and the Islanders went on to win the PCL Southern Division Championship.[2]