Tony Perezchica, Good Range - 547

Tony Perezchica had a hit in the game, his major league debut, but what caught his manager's attention was his sacrifice fly - the game-winning sacrifice fly.

With injuries that September, Giants manager Roger Craig told The Associated Press he might just get a closer look at the young infielder by keeping him in the lineup.

"He was swinging the tee bat well," Giants manager Roger Craig told The AP afterward. "He's got good range and agility. He's a good-looking ballplayer."

Perezchica, though, ended up getting into just six more games that year. That hit ended up being his only hit in eight at bats. His next big league hit wouldn't come until 1990. By the time his career was over, Perezchica would have just 23.

Perezchica's route to those 23 big league hits began in 1984, selected by the Giants in the third round of the draft out of Palm Springs High in California.

He played his first year at short-season Everett, hitting .193. He moved to single-A Clinton for 1985, then single-A Fresno for 1986.

Perezchica made AA Shreveport for 1987, hitting .319 on the year, with 11 home runs. He made AAA Phoenix the next season, hitting .306. He also got that look with the Giants in September.

Going into spring training 1989, Perezchica believed he was ready for the majors. He just needed to win a spot, McClatchy News Service wrote. Giants hitting instructor Dusty Baker, though, warned that, if Perezchica were sent back down, he needed to stay sharp.

"I'm not going to say he's going back down; that's not my decision to make," Baker told McClatchy. "But if he does, he has to know that his time will come. That's just a part of the game. It might be here. It might be somewhere else. But his time will come. He's proved he can hit major-league pitching."

Perezchica didn't make the team that year, sent back to AAA. Perezchica's batting average also suffered. After hitting over .300 the two previous seasons, at AA and AAA, Perezchica's averaged dropped to .231.

He returned to AAA for most of 1990, as well, getting four games with the Giants in San Francisco. Perezchica had his biggest year in 1991. He got into 40 games between the Giants and the Indians, taken of waivers by Cleveland in August.

That June, with the Giants, Perezchica got thrown out at the plate trying to score the game-tying run against the Cubs. Later that month, though, he used a single to knock in the tying run.

In July, he got married. Perezchica had planned to get married earlier, but his call up to San Francisco got in the way, The Baltimore Sun wrote.

Perezchica finished out his major league career in 1992 with 18 more games with the Indians. He played in the minors through 1995, moving to the Yankees organization for 1994.

Perezchica has gone on to a long career as a coach, manager and instructor in the minors. In 2002, he served as hitting coach for the Norwich Navigators.

In April 2002, Perezchica's Navigators lost a game 5 to 2. Perezchica, serving then as interim manager, thought his team could have done better.

"April, spring training, whenever, this can't happen," Perezchica told The New London Day. "These guys should be better., and they are going to get better. We made a lot of mistakes that we shouldn't have."

• Albany Herald, Associated Press, Sept. 8, 1988: Glavine Gets 1st Route Job
• Lodi News-Sentinel, McClatchy News Service, March 20, 1989: Perezchica wants chance with Giants
• New London Day, April 9, 2002: Winless Navigators stumble to a loss at New Britain

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Featured: 659/880 - 74.9%
Players/Coaches Featured: 670
Made the Majors: 453 - 68%-X
Never Made the Majors:217-32%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 195
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 140