Gaylord Perry, Hall of Fame Pitcher, Dead at 84

The legendary spitball thrower was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Gaylord Perry, a two-time Cy Young winner and 1991 inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, died Thursday. He was 84 years old. 

Perry died of natural causes in his home in Gaffney, S.C. at approximately 5 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, according to Cherokee County coroner Dennis Fowler.

Perry made his Major League Baseball debut in 1962 for the Giants, spending the first decade of his 22-year career with the team. He’d go on to have stints with Cleveland, the Padres, Yankees, Braves, Mariners, Royals and two stints with the Rangers during his career, which ended in 1983. He won his Cy Young Awards in ’72 for Cleveland and in ’78 for the Padres. He was a five-time All-Star, led the MLB in wins three times. He is a member of the Giants and Guardians franchise Halls of Fame as well.

He became famous for doctoring baseballs during his career, notoriously throwing the “spitball.” In his 1974 autobiography Me and the Spitter, he said he put Vaseline on his pants zipper to avoid detection from umpires. He was not ejected for the use of illegal substances on the ball until Aug. 23, 1982, his 21st season in the majors and first with the Mariners.

Perry sits 17th in MLB history with 314 wins and eighth in career strikeouts with 3,554. 

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