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 Gaylord after a close friend of his father’s who passed away during a dental procedure. Gaylord grew up alongside his older brother, Jim, and younger sister, Carolyn, in Williamston and the tiny community of Farmlife, part of Griffins Township in Martin County. He helped his father work the family land, and during lunch breaks, he and Jim started playing baseball with their dad. At Williamston High School, Gaylord played football, basketball, and baseball. He was named All-State as both an offensive and defensive end before quitting football. On the basketball court, he and Jim led the team to the state finals during Gaylord’s first year. He averaged nearly 30 points and 20 rebounds per game, and the school posted a 94–8 record over his career. He turned down dozens of college basketball offers. In baseball, Gaylord started as a third baseman as a freshman while Jim pitched. By the end of that year, he began sharing mound duties with his brother. In 1955, Williamston High won the North Carolina Class A state tournament, with the Perry brothers throwing consecutive shutouts to sweep the best-of-three finals. Gaylord finished his high school career with a 33–5 record. As a teenager, he played semi-pro ball for the Alpine Cowboys in Alpine, Texas. He and Jim both attended Campbell University, where they played college baseball.

Pitching style

Perry said he was taught the spitball in 1964 by pitcher Bob Shaw. Throughout his career, he had a reputation for doctoring baseballs and was frequently inspected on the mound by umpires and monitored by opposing teams. On April 6, 1974, while playing for Cleveland against New York, Perry threw a pitch that umpire Marty Springstead signaled as illegal, calling it the 'first victim of baseball's new enforcement' of the spitball rule. On August 23, 1982, he was ejected from a game against the Boston Red Sox for doctoring the ball, the first and 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 and was allegedly rebuffed with a postcard reading, 'We soothe babies' backsides, not baseballs.' 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.' Gene Tenace, who caught Perry with the San Diego Padres, recalled occasions when the ball was so greasy it slipped from his hands. Perry used his reputation to psych out hitters by touching various parts of his head, possibly applying a foreign substance. Reggie Jackson, after striking out against Perry in 1982, was ejected and returned with a container of Gatorade, splashing it on the field while yelling that Perry should be allowed to use it on the baseball. Perry also employed a 'Puffball,' loading up on the resin bag so that a puff of resin smoke would form when he threw the pitch, making it hard for hitters to see the ball; this 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. In 1959, he was promoted to the Double-A Corpus Christi Giants, posting a 10–11 record and 4.05 ERA in 41 games. He remained with the franchise as it became the Rio Grande Valley Giants in 1960, finishing with a 9–13 record and a 2.82 ERA in 32 games. He was promoted to the Triple-A Tacoma Giants for 1961, leading the Pacific Coast League in wins (16) and innings pitched (219). Perry made his major league debut on April 14, 1962, against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing four earned runs on five hits in a no-decision. He appeared in 13 games for the Giants but had a 3–1 record and a 5.23 ERA, and was sent back to Tacoma in June, where he led the PCL with a 2.44 ERA. He was promoted back to the Giants in September but was not on the roster for the World Series. In 1963, he worked mostly as a reliever, going 1–6 with a 4.03 ERA. In 1964, he joined the starting rotation, finishing with a 2.75 ERA and a 12–11 record. In 1965, his record was 8–12.

Honors

Perry entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, during his third year on the ballot. He was a finalist for the MLB All-Century Team in 1999. The Sporting News placed him 97th on its 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Bill James ranked Perry as the tenth-best right-handed starting pitcher ever and the 50th greatest player overall in 2001. The San Francisco Giants retired his number 36 on July 23, 2005. He joined the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on March 9, 2009. At AT&T Park, Perry received World Series rings in 2011, 2013, and 2015, alongside Giants legends like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, and Juan Marichal. The Cleveland Indians had him throw the ceremonial first pitch on their 2015 Opening Day. A bronze statue of Perry was unveiled outside AT&T Park on August 13, 2016.