Gaylord Perry

Did You Know?

• Perry filed for bankruptcy in 1986 and briefly worked as a sales manager for Fiesta Foods.
• He launched the baseball program at Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina, in 1988, and his son Jack was an inaugural team member.
• Perry's nephew, Chris, is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour.

Early life

Gaylord Perry entered the world on September 15, 1938, in Williamston, North Carolina. His father, Evan, a former standout athlete, and his mother, Ruby, were farmers. They named him after a close family friend who passed away during a dental procedure. Gaylord grew up alongside his older brother, Jim, and younger sister, Carolyn, in Williamston and the nearby community of Farmlife in Martin County.

He helped his father work the family land. At Williamston High School, he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. He earned All-State honors as a sophomore and junior in football, then quit the sport. On the basketball court, he and Jim led the team to the state finals in Gaylord’s first year; he averaged nearly 30 points and 20 rebounds per game, and the team posted a 94–8 record.

He turned down dozens of college basketball scholarships. On the baseball diamond, Gaylord started as a third baseman while Jim pitched, but by the end of his freshman year, he began sharing mound duties. In 1955, the Perry brothers threw consecutive shutouts to sweep the best-of-three state finals, winning the North Carolina Class A title. Gaylord finished his high school career with a 33–5 record.

As a teen, he played semi-pro ball for the Alpine Cowboys in Texas. He and Jim later attended Campbell University together.

Pitching style

Perry said he was taught the spitball in 1964 by pitcher Bob Shaw. Throughout his career, he gained a reputation for doctoring baseballs, leading to frequent inspections by umpires and close monitoring by opposing teams. On April 6, 1974, umpire Marty Springstead signaled a pitch by Perry as illegal under new enforcement of the spitball rule. On August 23, 1982, Perry was ejected from a game against the Boston Red Sox for doctoring the ball, the only ejection of his career; umpire Dave Phillips ejected him without inspecting the ball, and Perry was suspended for 10 days.

Perry reportedly approached the makers of Vaseline about endorsing the product but was rebuffed. Former manager Gene Mauch quipped that Perry should be in the Hall of Fame with a tube of K-Y Jelly attached to his plaque. Perry used his reputation to psych out hitters by touching various parts of his head while looking in for pitch selection, possibly applying a foreign substance. Reggie Jackson was ejected after striking out against Perry in 1982 and returned with a container of Gatorade, splashing it on the field.

Perry also developed a 'Puffball,' loading up on the resin bag to create a puff of smoke that obscured the ball; this pitch was outlawed in 1981 strictly because of Perry.

Professional career

The San Francisco Giants signed Perry on June 3, 1958, with a $90,000 signing bonus. He made his professional debut in 1958 with the St. Cloud Rox in the Class A Northern League, compiling a 9–5 record and a 2.39 ERA in 17 games. After stints in Double-A and Triple-A, he made his major league debut on April 14, 1962, against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing four earned runs in a no-decision. He appeared in 13 games for the Giants that year but was sent back to Triple-A in June, where he led the Pacific Coast League with a 2.44 ERA.

Promoted again in September, he was not on the roster for the team's World Series appearance, the only time he pitched for a pennant winner. In 1963, he worked mostly as a reliever, going 1–6 with a 4.03 ERA. He joined the starting rotation in 1964, finishing with a 2.75 ERA and a 12–11 record, both second-best for the Giants behind Juan Marichal. In 1965, his record was 8–12, and his 24–30 record over two full seasons as a starter attracted little national attention.

Honors

Perry entered the Hall of Fame in 1991, getting the call on his third try. He was up for the All-Century Team in 1999. The Sporting News put him at number 97 among the game’s all-time greats in 1998, and Bill James ranked him as the tenth-best right-handed starter and the 50th-best player overall in 2001. The Giants retired his number 36 in 2005. He joined the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. At AT&T Park, Perry was given World Series rings for the 2010, 2012, and 2014 championships, alongside Giants legends. In 2016, a bronze statue of him went up outside the ballpark.