Remembering the uniqueness of MLB Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry

Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry passed away on Thursday, December 1, leaving behind a legacy of uniqueness and milestone moments over his 22-year MLB career.

Reflecting on the legacy of Gaylord Perry on an MLB mound

Perry won Cy Young Awards in both the American and National Leagues (in 1972 and 1978, respectively), becoming the first pitcher to ever accomplish that feat. His induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 was no surprise as Perry racked up 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and 5,350.0 innings pitched.

While Perry was an accomplished pitcher, he will likely be known more the mind games he played on the mound as much as the success he logged. Using substances such as petroleum jelly and the saliva that resulted from chewing slippery elm bark, Perry would often find ways to gain an advantage on the mound. Opposing batters and managers knew this, and would often have the baseballs checked, especially when Perry began going repeatedly to several parts of his uniform (which often was just a show to get in the minds of the batter, Perry would say in later years). However, Perry was only once ejected from a game for doctoring the ball, and that came in 1982 at the age of 43.

“I don’t mind the opposing managers continually asking to see the ball. It’s part of the game. It also helps to keep the hitters guessing,” Perry once said.

In his final season (1983), Perry was ejected from the infamous “Pine Tar” game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees after he tried to hide George Brett’s bat.

All of that, however, should not take away from the skilled pitcher that Perry was, and how he dominated on the mound for years. From 1969-1975, with the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Texas Rangers, Perry started 272 games and registered a complete game in 174 of those outings, including 31 shutouts.

While Perry found success on the mound, he was never able to pitch in a World Series. To this day, he is one of just 31 modern-era players who are in the Hall of Fame but never played in the Fall Classic.

Gaylord Perry was a unique, skilled pitcher who was more than worthy of inclusion in Cooperstown. His style of pitching and the mind games behind it will likely never be duplicated again.