Book Signing Events for Tony Pérez
Buy Tony Pérez
by John Erardi
Now Available from Orange Frazer Press
The return of the U.S. cold war with Cuba won’t slow the tide of baseball defectors, now at a low ebb as so many great ones have already fled (including two stars of the recent postseason, Houston’s Yuli Gurriel and Los Angeles’ Yasiel Puig).
In October, 2017, for the first time in six decades, two million Havanans, many of them baseball-crazy, could listen on radio (and some watch on TV) to the World Series——just the way Tony ‘Tani’ Pérez and his father listened while living in the sugar-mill town of Central Violeta in 1955 as the Dodgers of Cuban native Sandy Amorós upset the powerful Yankees, 1,300 miles away.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., two million Cuban-Americans, many of them also
baseball-crazy, could watch, listen, or follow the postseason any way they wanted.
In 1960, Tony Pérez took advantage of safe passage to the U.S., as did 14,000 Cuban children over a two-year period during Operación Pedro Pan, a reality that cannot take place in the present environment.
The re-lowering of the Coconut Curtain stunts youth and imaginations on both sides of the 93-mile-wide Straits of Florida. The promise held forth in “From Cuba to Cooperstown” is that one day both places can be freely reached and enjoyed without either government curtailing it.
The story of baseball great Tony Pérez is as relevant now as it will ever be.
““If you think you know all there is to know about Tony Pérez, think again. John Erardi has written a book about Tony that will become the ultimate on the Reds Hall of Fame first baseman. Also, a ton of pictures, many of which are published here for the first time anywhere. You are going to love this book!” ”
““Labors of love are unmistakable. This is one of them. John Erardi brings to the telling of an important baseball narrative the kind of passion and joy Tony Pérez brought to the ballfield.” ”
““Writing in an easy, familiar tone, and steeped in the knowledge of his subject, John Erardi delivers the story of a remarkable baseball life——one that is inextricably attached to its Cuban roots. At times, especially on the ground in Cuba, the reader feels as if he is reporting alongside the writer. This is a very good book.””
“Like a swing of Perez’s bat, John Erardi delivers a powerful story of the Cuban boy who grew up into one of the Cincinnati Reds most popular players. The comprehensively researched and engagingly written book shows the great success of Perez’s baseball career amid the personal story of losing his country. A home run.”
