Tony P¨¦rez derived more than a sense of satisfaction after his home run off Catfish Hunter broke a 15th-inning tie and propelled the National League to a 2-1 triumph over the American League in the 1967 All-Star Game. The Cuba native also felt considerable pride in earning a place alongside his fellow Latin American standouts, Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda of Puerto Rico.

¡°It doesn¡¯t get any better than that for a Latin player,¡± said P¨¦rez, who was in his third full Major League season. ¡°That home run. ¡­ Clemente and Cepeda congratulating me. That¡¯s the moment I felt I arrived.¡±

Here¡¯s a look at 10 highlights of P¨¦rez¡¯s journey from key member of the Big Red Machine during his 23 MLB seasons all the way to the Hall of Fame.

1. Working overtime
July 11, 1967

P¨¦rez broke an All-Star Game stalemate that appeared destined to continue. He struck out against Catfish Hunter in his previous at-bat to end the 12th. Hunter, then a promising 21-year-old, was coming off a 14th inning -- his fourth inning of work -- in which he retired Willie Mays, Clemente and Hank Aaron in order. With one out in the 15th, P¨¦rez took Hunter deep.

2. Captain Comeback
Oct. 22, 1975

The Reds trailed Boston in Game 7 of the World Series, 3-0, when P¨¦rez delivered a two-run, two-out homer off Bill Lee's eephus pitch in the sixth inning. The Reds proceeded to win, 4-3. Some observers believe that P¨¦rez¡¯s clout was the biggest hit in Reds history, since it began the surge that ultimately carried them to a World Series title.

3. Catfish can¡¯t wiggle off hook
Oct. 17, 1976

P¨¦rez broke a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning against his All-Star rival, Hunter, by singling home Ken Griffey with two outs in Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees. The Reds widened their Series lead to 2-0 and were halfway toward their four-game sweep.

4. Plenty of power
Oct. 16, 1975

P¨¦rez was hitless in 15 World Series at-bats before his pair of homers off Boston starter Reggie Cleveland paced the Reds to a 6-2 victory in Game 5. His first homer forged a fourth-inning tie; the next was a three-run drive in the sixth that essentially sealed the outcome. The decision gave the Reds a 3-2 edge in the Series, which moved back to Boston for the final two games.

5. Keeping the line moving
Oct. 11, 1972

P¨¦rez singled off Dave Giusti to follow Johnny Bench¡¯s dramatic ninth-inning homer that forged a 3-3 tie in Game 5 of the 1972 NL Championship Series against Pittsburgh. George Foster ran for P¨¦rez and scored the run that sent Cincinnati to the World Series on Bob Moose¡¯s wild pitch.

6. Top-notch slugging
Oct. 4, 1986

Finishing his career where it began, with Cincinnati, P¨¦rez hit his 379th and final home run to tie Cepeda for the most round-trippers ever hit by a Latin American player. P¨¦rez¡¯s third-inning drive off Ed Whitson contributed to the Reds¡¯ ?10-7 win over the Padres.

7. Pitch to him at your own risk
Aug. 11, 1970

P¨¦rez smacked the first red-seat (upper-deck) home run in the history of Riverfront Stadium, which opened less than two months earlier. For emphasis, he made it a grand slam. P¨¦rez connected off Mets right-hander Jim McAndrew in the second inning to open the scoring as he demonstrated his punishing strength.

8. Producing runs came naturally
May 13, 1985

P¨¦rez drove in 90 runs or more for 11 consecutive seasons (1967-77) at the height of his Hall of Fame career. He remained capable of recording key RBIs into his later years as a player. Such was the case on this date, when he entered the game with only 11 plate appearances on the season. He also was pinch-hitting, never an easy job. But he victimized Phillies reliever Dave Rucker with a grand slam that shattered a sixth-inning tie and carried the Reds to a 7-3 win.

9. Big Red Machine, indeed
July 25, 1974

Through most of the 1970s, opponents practically had to drive a stake through the collective heart of the Reds¡¯ lineup to subdue it. On this day, Cincinnati entered the ninth inning trailing the Giants, 13-9, before rallying for five runs -- the final two coming on P¨¦rez¡¯s two-out two-run homer off Randy Moffitt -- to secure a 14-13 victory.

10. Fenway tribute
Sept. 30, 1982

P¨¦rez always will be associated primarily with the Reds, having spent 16 of his 23 big league seasons with them. But he also had a three-year stint with the Red Sox (1980-82), for whom he amassed 25 homers and 105 RBIs in 1980. He received a thunderous standing ovation from Boston fans after his final Fenway Park plate appearance, which resulted in a pinch-hit, two-run homer the opposite way to right in the eighth inning off Milwaukee¡¯s Bob McClure.