9:53 AM ET
Associated Press
GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award victor Gaylord Perry, a maestro of the spitball who wrote a publication astir utilizing the pitch, died Thursday. He was 84.
Perry died astatine his location successful Gaffney astatine astir 5 a.m. Thursday of earthy causes, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said. He did not supply further details.
"Gaylord Perry was a accordant workhorse and a memorable fig successful his Hall of Fame career," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said successful a statement, adding, "he volition beryllium remembered among the astir accomplished San Francisco Giants ever ... and remained a fashionable teammate and person passim his life."
The autochthonal of Williamston, North Carolina, made past arsenic the archetypal subordinate to triumph the Cy Young successful some leagues, with Cleveland successful 1972 and San Diego successful 1978 conscionable aft turning 40.
Perry went 24-16 successful his debut play with Cleveland aft 10 years with the San Francisco Giants. He was 21-6 successful his archetypal play with the Padres successful 1978 for his 5th and last 20-win season.
"Before I won my 2nd Cy Young I thought I was excessively aged -- I didn't deliberation the writers would ballot for me," Perry said successful an nonfiction connected the National Baseball Hall of Fame website. "But they voted connected my performance, truthful I won it."
Perry, who pitched for 8 major-league teams from 1962 until 1983, was a five-time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame successful 1991. He had a vocation grounds of 314-255, finished with 3,554 strikeouts and utilized a pitching benignant wherever helium doctored baseballs oregon made batters judge helium was doctoring them.
The Texas Rangers, whom Perry played for twice, said successful a connection Thursday that the pitcher was "a fierce rival each clip helium took the shot and much often than not gave the Rangers an accidental to triumph the game."
"The Rangers explicit their sincere condolences to Gaylord's household astatine this hard time," the team's connection said. "This shot large volition beryllium missed."
Perry's 1974 autobiography was titled "Me and the Spitter," and helium wrote it successful that erstwhile helium started successful 1962 helium was the "11th antheral connected an 11-man pitching staff" for the Giants. He needed an borderline and learned the spitball from San Francisco teammate Bob Shaw.
Perry said helium archetypal threw it successful May 1964 against the New York Mets, pitched 10 innings without giving up a tally and soon aft entered the Giants' starting rotation.
He besides wrote successful the publication that helium chewed slippery elm bark to physique up his saliva, and yet stopped throwing the transportation successful 1968 aft MLB ruled pitchers could nary longer interaction their fingers to their mouths earlier touching the baseball.
According to his book, helium looked for different substances, similar petroleum jelly, to doc the baseball. He utilized assorted motions and routines to interaction antithetic parts of his jersey and assemblage to get hitters reasoning helium was applying a overseas substance.
Perry was ejected from a crippled conscionable erstwhile for doctoring a shot -- erstwhile helium was with Seattle successful August 1982. In his last play with Kansas City, Perry and teammate Leon Roberts tried to fell George Brett's infamous pine-tar bat successful the clubhouse but was stopped by a guard. Perry was ejected for his relation successful that game, too.
After his career, Perry founded the shot programme astatine Limestone College successful Gaffney and was its manager for the archetypal 3 years.
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