Growing up, every kid has a hero or two, and for most boys, many of those heroes happened to play sports.

As we grow up, we look up to different players or even coaches, regardless of the sport, but many of us will always have that one favorite player we grew up watching who will always be near the top of the list.

Football certainly has its legendary players and coaches, but for me, it’s tough to top a childhood baseball hero.

For my dad, born in 1955, his childhood baseball hero was Cincinnati Reds first baseman Tony Perez.

To this day, dad will tell you Perez wasn’t his favorite because of the 1,652 hits he collected over 23 years in the MLB, or the fact he was a seven-time All-Star.

Dad’s favorite thing about Perez was his quiet leadership.

“He had a personality that I like,” dad told me late last week when we were talking about our baseball heroes. “He was quiet, but someone that the team counted on. He was a quiet leader.”

It was funny to hear dad say he looked up to a quiet leader, because that is how I would describe not only him, but a few of my baseball favorites, too.

Sean Casey wasn’t the biggest name in baseball when he played for the Reds in the 1990’s, but he was a constant hitter with a solid glove.

And just like Perez, Casey wasn’t a boisterous character by any means, but he lead by example.

When dad was growing up, Perez was overshadowed by bigger names — Pete Rose, Dave Concepcion and Johnny Bench — but was part of why he loved to watch him play.

Who our heroes are — whether they are sports, political, or pop culture figures — says a lot about us.

They are who we want to be.

Neither dad nor I aspire to be the star of any show or stand under any bright lights, and neither did our baseball heroes.

They just wanted to do their job, make the team around them better, and do it all again tomorrow.

As we grow up, we all gain new heroes with different talents and characteristics we hope to mirror, but we will always remember — and aspire to be — our childhood heroes.

Jay Sowers is photo editor of Gulf Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at jay@gulfcoastmedia.com.