This is for all you baseball fans out there. Lost one of my childhood icons. Gaylord Perry, Hall of Famer and one of the greatest pitchers of all time passed away at 84.
https://www.mlb.com/news/gaylord-perry-passes-away

Sad news. He was one of those great personalities that made baseball fun.


Today they'd blame him for slowing down the game. (instead of the 2 1/2 additional hours of commercials)

I read his book "Me and the spitter" many years ago. He told a lot of funny stories of the
umps coming out to the mound looking for the grease. They would talk about what restaurant
to go to that night while the ump acted like he was looking for grease. He admitted he just
needed a tiny bit on his thumb nail, and would wipe it off on his pants while the ump was
on his way out. Would like to find another copy and read it again.

Sorry to hear it. He was a character of the game.

Gaylord's brother Jim, lived next door to me during the Twins spring training, for 7-8 years. Never met Gaylord, but meeting Early Wynn and Warren Spahn were a big deal when you're 12.

Another good one gone. Hate to hear this... Godspeed to a great storyteller...Baseball today just doesnt have the "character" and characters it used to...

Sorry to hear this

Besides being a great pitcher, he had a persona all his own..

Perry became the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in each league, capturing the honor in 1972 with Cleveland and in '78 with San Diego. In 22 Major League seasons, he compiled a 314-265 record with a 3.11 ERA and 3,534 strikeouts.


Some neat facts:

Gaylord Perry was born in Williamston, North Carolina, and named after a close friend of his father's, who had died while having his teeth pulled.

"My favorite trick pitch of his was the old Puffball, where he would load up on rosin so that a puff of white smoke would release while he threw his pitches. This was made illegal somewhere along the way (because of Perry, of course), but it's so awesome — it's like the sort of thing one of the villains on the old Batman TV show would do

I remember going to my first major league game in 72 or so in Cleveland and he was pitching. Always liked him ever since. Made an impression on a young baseball fan.

RIP Mr Perry an oldy but goody, lived 50 miles from the Mistake by the Lake (Cleveland Stadium) in the 70's and would make several trips a season to watch players like Perry

quote:

Originally posted by sunburn:
Gaylord's brother Jim, lived next door to me during the Twins spring training, for 7-8 years. Never met Gaylord, but meeting Early Wynn and Warren Spahn were a big deal when you're 12.

Cool. Early Wynn was once asked if he would throw at his mother. "If she was crowding the plate."

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by sunburn:
Gaylord's brother Jim, lived next door to me during the Twins spring training, for 7-8 years. Never met Gaylord, but meeting Early Wynn and Warren Spahn were a big deal when you're 12.

Cool. Early Wynn was once asked if he would throw at his mother. "If she was crowding the plate."

Bob Gibson was another one that would probly throw at his mom’s head if she was crowding