Sunday, April 1, 2012

Gaylord Perry (#320)

Gaylord Perry pitched for 22 seasons, accumulated 314 wins and 3534 strikeouts, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

He spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Giants, and although he won 20 games twice there, he usually pitched in the shadow of Juan Marichal:

1966: Perry goes 21-8 with 201 strikeouts, but teammate Marichal was 25-6 with 222 Ks.

1967: Perry wins 15 while Marichal slumps to 14-10, but wait, newcomer Mike McCormick leads the NL with 22 wins!

1968: Perry wins 16, with 173 Ks, but Marichal rebounds to 26-9 with 218 Ks. Teammate Ray Sadecki also strikes out 203.

1969: Perry goes 19-14, but still trails Marichal's 21-11. He does top Marichal in strikeouts though (233 to 205).

1970: Finally! Perry: 23-13, Marichal: 12-10.

1971: Oh well, Perry: 16-12, Marichal: 18-11.



After the 1971 season, Perry was traded to the Indians for strikeout artist Sam McDowell. In 1972, Gaylord led the AL in wins (24) and complete games (29), and won the Cy Young award. He pitched 2 more full seasons in Cleveland, winning 19 and 21 games. He was teammates with his brother Jim during 1974 and early 1975.

In June 1975, Perry was traded to the Rangers for pitcher Jim Bibby and others. He pitched 2 1/2 seasons for Texas.

Before the 1978 season, Gaylord was traded to the Padres. His first season in San Diego was a carbon copy of his first in Cleveland: He led the league in wins (21) and won the Cy Young award. Perry pitched one more season in San Diego before spending the last 4 seasons of his career bouncing from team to team.

1 comment:

Rickro said...

Great color and background. Love the 1967 set.