HALL OF FAMER GAYLORD PERRY PASSES AWAY

Gaylord Perry left behind many unforgettable memories from his long years as a Major League pitcher.

At age 84, he passed away Thursday morning at his home in Gaffney, S.C. There were no further details, although a statement from the Perry family said he passed away peacefully after a short illness.

The native of Williamston, N.C. made history as the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues, with the Cleveland Indians in 1972 following a 24-16 season, and with the San Diego Padres in 1978.

“Before I won my second Cy Young,” he had said, “I thought I was too old, I didn’t think the writers would vote for me. But they voted on my performances regardless of my age.”

The righthander was a man for all ages. He left behind memories of fun and laughter, a spitball as his most memorable pitch, and was always remembered for his love and devotion to the National Pastime, to his family, and his farm.

At 6-foot-2, Perry was a workhorse who hurled for eight Major League teams from 1962 to until 1983, was a five-time All-Star, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

His 1974 autobiography entitled Me and the Spitter was pieced together in that when he began in 1962 he was the 11th man on an 11-man pitching team for the San Francisco Giants. He needed an edge and learned the spitball from teammate Bob Shaw.

He first threw it in May 1964 against the New York Mets, pitched 10 innings without giving up a run and soon after entered the Giants’ starting rotation.

He was truthful, never hiding anything, and he also wrote in the book that he chewed slippery elm bark to build up his saliva, and eventually stopped throwing the pitch in 1968 when MLB ruled pitchers could no longer touch their fingers to their mouths before touching the baseball.

His book was overly popular because it contained all the facts of his dazzling career. In it, he told of looking for other substances like petroleum jelly to doctor the baseball. He used various motions and routines to touch different parts of his jersey and body to get hitters thinking he was applying a foreign substance.

Giants Hall of Fame teammate Orlando Cepeda said Perry had a great sense of humor, a terrific personality, and was his baseball brother.

“In all my years of baseball,” Cepeda said, “I never say a right-handed pitcher have such a presence on the field and in the clubhouse.”.

Another former Giants’ teammate, righty Hall of Fame hurdler Juan Marichal, said he remembered Perry as smart, funny and kind to everyone in the clubhouse, and that when he talked, you listened.

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Now 91 years old, Hall of Fame great Willie Mays still resides in San Francisco and when asked about Perry, said that as his teammate was a good man, a good ballplayer, and my good friend.

“So long old pal,” Mays said.

During his 10 seasons together in the San Francisco clubhouse with all these elite players, Perry combined to record 369 complete games, and Marichal said that was more than any pair of teammates in the Major Leagues. He had a career record of 314-255, finished with 3,534 strikeouts and used a pitching style where he doctored baseballs on made batters who believed he was doctoring them.

He was hailed as one of the pitchers of his generation. The Texas Rangers, whom he played for twice, said in a statement that Perry was a fierce competitor every time he took the ball, and more often than not, gave the Rangers an opportunity to win the game.

Perry was ejected from a game only once, and it came while with the Seattle Mariners in August of 1982 for doctoring a baseball.

In his final season with the Kansas City Royals, Perry and teammate Leon Roberts tried to hide George Brett’s infamous pine-tar bat in the clubhouse but was stopped by a guard. Perry was ejected for his role in that game too.

Brett had said that Perry was delightful and still passionate in his opinions on the game, and especially on pitching.

He just did it all and did it well.