Gaylord Perry, baseball player, 1962-1983

Gaylord Perry

⭐ Hall of Fame 1991

Born: 9/15/1938 in Williamston, NC, USA

Died: 12/1/2022 in Gaffney, SC, USA

MLB Debut: 1962-04-14 | Final Game: 1983-09-21

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 205 lbs

Full name: Gaylord Jackson Perry

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Biography

Gaylord Perry was a prominent American professional baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1962 to 1983. Born in 1938, Perry became known for his exceptional skill on the mound and his ability to confound hitters with an array of pitches, including his famed spitball, which contributed to his reputation as one of the game's most enigmatic figures. Over his illustrious career, he amassed a record of 314-265, with an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.11. Perry recorded a remarkable 3,534 strikeouts and notched 11 saves, solidifying his status as a dominant force in Major League Baseball. Perry’s contributions to the sport were recognized with numerous accolades, including two Cy Young Awards and five All-Star selections, highlighting his excellence during a competitive era in baseball. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, a testament to his lasting impact on the game. Throughout his career, Perry exhibited a distinctive style that combined finesse and strategy, making him not only a successful pitcher but also a revered figure in baseball history. His legacy endures as a reflection of the talent and tenacity that characterized the game during the late 20th century.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
314 265 777 690 303 53 11 5350.3 4938 1846 399 1379 3534 3.11 0

Career ERA 3.11 vs. league average 3.65 across their career seasons — 15.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1962 SFG NL 3 1 13 7 1 0 0 43.0 54 25 14 20 5.23 3.96 (-32%) -
1963 SFG NL 1 6 31 4 0 0 2 76.0 84 34 29 52 4.03 3.46 (-16%) -
1964 SFG NL 12 11 44 19 5 2 5 206.3 179 63 43 155 2.75 3.58 (+23%) -
1965 SFG NL 8 12 47 26 6 0 1 195.7 194 91 70 170 4.19 3.50 (-20%) -
1966 SFG NL 21 8 36 35 13 3 0 255.7 242 85 40 201 2.99 3.52 (+15%) -
1967 SFG NL 15 17 39 37 18 3 1 293.0 231 85 84 230 2.61 3.30 (+21%) -
1968 SFG NL 16 15 39 38 19 3 1 291.0 240 79 59 173 2.44 2.98 (+18%) -
1969 SFG NL 19 14 40 39 26 3 0 325.3 290 90 91 233 2.49 3.61 (+31%) -
1970 SFG NL 23 13 41 41 23 5 0 328.7 292 117 84 214 3.20 3.89 (+18%) -
1971 SFG NL 16 12 37 37 14 2 0 280.0 255 86 67 158 2.76 3.47 (+20%) -
1972 CLE AL 24 16 41 40 29 5 1 342.7 253 73 82 234 1.92 3.26 (+41%) 6995.8
1973 CLE AL 19 19 41 41 29 7 0 344.0 315 129 115 238 3.38 3.75 (+10%) 2142.6
1974 CLE AL 21 13 37 37 28 4 0 322.3 230 90 99 216 2.51 3.63 (+31%) 3469.8
1975 CLE AL 6 9 15 15 10 1 0 121.7 120 48 34 85 3.55 3.71 (+4%) -161.3
1975 TEX AL 12 8 22 22 15 4 0 184.0 157 62 36 148 3.03 3.71 (+18%) 5961.0
1976 TEX AL 15 14 32 32 21 2 0 250.3 232 90 52 143 3.24 3.51 (+8%) 4434.5
1977 TEX AL 15 12 34 34 13 4 0 238.0 239 89 56 177 3.37 4.00 (+16%) 5192.2
1978 SDP NL 21 6 37 37 5 2 0 260.7 241 79 66 154 2.73 3.69 (+26%) -
1979 SDP NL 12 11 32 32 10 0 0 232.7 225 79 67 140 3.06 4.00 (+24%) -
1980 TEX AL 6 9 24 24 6 2 0 155.0 159 59 46 107 3.43 3.84 (+11%) 1750.7
1980 NYY AL 4 4 10 8 0 0 0 50.7 65 25 18 28 4.44 3.84 (-16%) -
1981 ATL NL 8 9 23 23 3 0 0 150.7 182 66 24 60 3.94 3.58 (-10%) 1730.7
1982 SEA AL 10 12 32 32 6 0 0 216.7 245 106 54 116 4.40 3.86 (-14%) -1165.3
1983 SEA AL 3 10 16 16 2 0 0 102.0 116 56 23 42 4.94 3.87 (-28%) -2910.7
1983 KCR AL 4 4 14 14 1 1 0 84.3 98 40 26 40 4.27 3.87 (-10%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
787 1076 48 141 17 0 6 47 0 22 369 0.131 0.153 0.164 0.316 -9266.2

Career AVG .131 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 48.5% below league average.

Career OBP .153 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — 52.3% below league average.

Career SLG .164 vs. league average .376 across their career seasons — 56.5% below league average.

Career OPS 0.316 vs. league average 0.696 across their career seasons — 54.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1962 SFG NL 13 13 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0.231 — — — — 0.0
1963 SFG NL 32 18 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.222 — — — — 0.0
1964 SFG NL 46 56 0 3 1 0 0 3 0 1 23 0.054 .250 (-79%) .312 (-73%) .377 (-81%) .690 (-77%) -731.6
1965 SFG NL 49 64 4 10 0 0 0 2 0 2 19 0.156 .245 (-36%) .310 (-38%) .371 (-58%) .682 (-49%) -503.4
1966 SFG NL 36 86 4 16 1 0 0 2 0 1 25 0.186 .248 (-25%) .309 (-37%) .376 (-47%) .685 (-43%) -590.4
1967 SFG NL 42 91 2 13 1 0 0 2 0 0 28 0.143 .242 (-41%) .306 (-53%) .357 (-57%) .663 (-55%) -800.9
1968 SFG NL 39 97 3 11 0 0 0 3 0 2 35 0.113 .236 (-52%) .298 (-56%) .340 (-67%) .638 (-62%) -909.0
1969 SFG NL 40 117 5 14 1 0 1 2 0 4 47 0.120 .248 (-52%) .320 (-51%) .369 (-58%) .689 (-55%) -1063.7
1970 SFG NL 41 120 7 14 3 0 1 7 0 0 47 0.117 .253 (-54%) .325 (-62%) .385 (-57%) .711 (-59%) -1230.1
1971 SFG NL 38 98 5 10 1 0 1 4 0 3 32 0.102 .249 (-59%) .316 (-59%) .365 (-61%) .682 (-60%) -963.0
1972 CLE AL 41 110 5 17 2 0 1 9 0 5 43 0.155 .243 (-37%) .310 (-37%) .353 (-43%) .664 (-40%) -718.5
1973 CLE AL 41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 CLE AL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 CLE AL 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 TEX AL 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 TEX AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 TEX AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 SDP NL 37 87 5 8 2 0 0 3 0 2 31 0.092 .257 (-64%) .323 (-65%) .378 (-70%) .702 (-68%) -979.2
1979 SDP NL 32 71 2 6 2 0 1 2 0 2 19 0.085 .265 (-68%) .329 (-67%) .397 (-61%) .727 (-64%) -776.3
1980 TEX AL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 NYY AL 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 ATL NL 24 48 5 12 2 0 1 7 0 0 10 0.250 — — — — 0.0
1982 SEA AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 SEA AL 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 KCR AL 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.250

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1971 NLCS SFN 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.250

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 1 2 2 0 14.7 19 10 3 11 6.14

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1971 NLCS SFN 1 1 2 2 0 14.7 19 10 3 11 6.14

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 777 690 349 877 38 58

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1962 SFN P 13 7 3 5 1 1
1963 SFN P 31 4 4 12 0 0
1964 SFN P 44 19 12 26 0 3
1965 SFN P 47 26 18 40 1 4
1966 SFN P 36 35 16 40 1 2
1967 SFN P 39 37 20 64 3 2
1968 SFN P 39 38 31 62 2 3
1969 SFN P 40 39 18 67 0 2
1970 SFN P 41 41 30 67 4 5
1971 SFN P 37 37 21 41 5 5
1972 CLE P 41 40 18 61 2 7
1973 CLE P 41 41 19 55 0 1
1974 CLE P 37 37 26 45 3 4
1975 CLE P 15 15 10 21 1 2
1975 TEX P 22 22 9 22 0 1
1976 TEX P 32 32 11 24 2 1
1977 TEX P 34 34 14 28 1 2
1978 SDN P 37 37 13 40 2 6
1979 SDN P 32 32 11 41 2 2
1980 TEX P 24 24 11 25 1 2
1980 NYA P 10 8 2 7 0 1
1981 ATL P 23 23 11 19 3 0
1982 SEA P 32 32 11 35 3 1
1983 SEA P 16 16 6 16 1 0
1983 KCA P 14 14 4 14 0 1

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 777

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1982 Player of the Week Week of 1982-05-07
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-07-27
1978 Cy Young Award
1978 Pitcher of the Month September
1978 Player of the Week Week of 1978-09-23
1978 TSN All-Star RHP
1974 Player of the Month June
1972 Cy Young Award
1972 TSN All-Star RHP

Featured In Rankings

#21
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 21 of 25
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1978 Cy Young Award NL 1st 116.0 120 22
1978 Most Valuable Player NL 8th 45.0 336 0
1974 Cy Young Award AL 4th 8.0 120 1
1974 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 18.0 336 0
1973 Cy Young Award AL 7th 1.0 120 0
1973 Most Valuable Player AL 26th 4.0 336 0
1972 Cy Young Award AL 1st 64.0 120 9
1972 Most Valuable Player AL 6th 88.0 336 0
1970 Cy Young Award NL 2nd 51.0 120 1
1970 Most Valuable Player NL 14th 24.0 336 0
1966 Most Valuable Player NL 18th 8.0 280 0