Cy Young in both leagues, with Cleveland in 1972 after a 24-16 season and with San
Diego in 1978 — going 21-6 for his fifth and final 20-win season just after turning 40.
“Before I won my second Cy Young, I thought I was too old — I didn’t think the
writers would vote for me,” Perry said in an article on the National Baseball Hall of
Fame website. “But they voted on my performance, so I won it.”
“Gaylord Perry was a consistent workhorse and a memorable figure in his Hall of
Fame career,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, adding, “he will
be remembered among the most accomplished San Francisco Giants ever … and
remained a popular teammate and friend throughout his life.”
Perry was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and spent 10 seasons among legendary
teammates like Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who said Thursday that Perry “was a good
man, a good ballplayer and my good friend. So long old Pal.”
Juan Marichal remembered Perry as “smart, funny, and kind to everyone in the
clubhouse. When he talked, you listened.”
“During our 10 seasons together in the San Francisco Giants rotation, we combined
to record 369 complete games, more than any pair of teammates in the Major
Leagues,” Marichal said. “I will always remember Gaylord for his love and devotion to
the game of baseball, his family, and his farm.”
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Perry, who pitched for eight major-league teams from 1962 until 1983, was a five-
time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. He had a career record of
314-255, finished with 3,534 strikeouts and used a pitching style where he doctored
baseballs or made batters believe he was doctoring them.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame said in a statement that Perry was “one of the
greatest pitchers of his generation.” The Texas Rangers, whom Perry played for twice,
said in a statement that the pitcher was “a fierce competitor every time he took the
ball and more often than not gave the Rangers an opportunity to win the game.”
“The Rangers express their sincere condolences to Gaylord’s family at this difficult
time,” the team’s statement said. “This baseball great will be missed.”
