MLB Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry dies at age of 84

Gaylord Perry

Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry of Williamston, North Carolina passed away at the age of 84 on Thursday according to baseball-reference.com. He spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1962 to 1983. Perry was with the San Francisco Giants from 1962 to 1971, the Cleveland Indians from 1972 to 1975, the Texas Rangers from 1975 to 1977 and again in 1980, the San Diego Padres from 1978 to 1979, the New York Yankees in 1980, the Atlanta Braves in 1981, the Seattle Mariners in 1982 and 1983, and the Kansas City Royals  in 1983.

Career Statistics

Perry had a record of 314 wins and 265 losses with an earned run average of 3.11 in 777 games. During 5350 innings pitched, he gave up 4938 hits, 1846 earned runs, 1379 walks, and had 3535 strikeouts, 10 saves, 303 complete games, and 53 shutouts, with a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.18. Perry was 17th all-time in wins, eighth all-time in strikeouts, 39th all-time in complete games, and 16th all-time in shutouts.

Season Statistical Leader

Perry led the National League in wins twice. He had 23 wins while with the San Francisco Giants in 1970 and 21 wins while with the San Diego Padres in 1978, Perry also had 24 wins while with the Cleveland Indians in 1972. While with the Giants in 1969, he led Major League Baseball with 325 1/3 innings pitched. The following year in 1970 with the Giants, Perry led Major League Baseball with 328 2/3 innings pitched and five shutouts. In 1972 and 1973 while with the Indians, he led the American League with 29 complete games.

Accolades

Perry was a five-time All-Star. He represented the National League while with the Giants in 1966 and 1970, and the Padres in 1979. Perry also represented the American League while with the Indians in 1972 and 1974. He also won two Cy Young Awards–in 1972 with the Indians (24-16, 1.92 ERA), and in 1978 with the Padres (21-6, 2.73 ERA). What is staggering from the statistics in the pervious sentence is that Perry had a marvelous earned run average of 1.92 in 1972, but still lost 16 games!

Perry’s number 36 is retired by the Giants. In 1991, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

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