Historical Highlight: Eduardo Perez

Before he solidified himself as a big leaguer, Eduardo Perez made his way through Indianapolis.

After making his major league debut on July 27, 1993, the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez toggled between California and Triple-A Vancouver until being traded to Cincinnati on April 9, 1996, with the season already underway.

It didn’t take long for Perez to make his mark on the Circle City. He joined the ballclub for that night’s game at Buffalo and went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. In his first month with the Tribe, he recorded hits in all but one game: April 13 vs. Louisville.

On April 14, Perez began a legendary stretch that still holds a place among Indians all-time leaders, trailing only Francis Sigafoos’ 38-game hitting streak of 1933 and Ed Stevens’ 33-gamer in 1951.

During his 21-game hitting streak that outlasted Todd Haney’s 1991 streak by one game, he notched six multi-hit contests. One of those multi-hit games was a standout game at Iowa, where he went 4-for-5 with a double, home run and two RBI.

After the streak ended on May 10 with an 0-for-3 performance vs. Nashville, Perez remained in Triple-A until June 4 when he joined the Reds in Cincinnati for one game against the Giants. He returned to the big-league club for a 10-day stint in July before ending the season with a .293 average and a team-leading 132 hits, 21 home runs, 84 RBI, 234 total bases and 84 runs scored with Indianapolis.

Perez never returned to the Circle City after 1996. He spent the 1997-98 seasons with Cincinnati before signing with St. Louis as a free agent. The 17th overall selection of the 1991 First-Year Player Draft also had stints with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan, Tampa Bay and Cleveland before retiring as a Seattle Mariner following the 2006 season.