Perry, Gaylord J.
Baseball
b. Sept. 13, 1938, Williamston, NC
The first pitcher ever to win Cy Young Awards in both leagues, Perry was a right-hander who was constantly accused of throwing a spitball. After retiring, he wrote a biography, Me and the Spitter, in which he admitted using the illegal pitch. "Without it," he said, "I'd probably been farmin' about ten years ago."
Perry had brief stints with the NL's San Francisco Giants in 1962 and 1963, then became a regular starter and had a 12-11 record in 1964. After going 8-12 in 1965, he had his first 20-victory season with a 21-8 record in 1966.
He led the league with 325 1/3 innings pitched in 1969, when he was 19-14, and the following year he was the league leader in victories with a 23-13 record, in shutouts with 5, and in innings pitched with 328 2/3.
After a 16-12 record in 1971, Perry was traded to the AL's Cleveland Indians. He promptly won his first Cy Young Award, leading the league in victories with a 24-16 record and in complete games with 29. He had a 1.92 ERA that season. (His brother Jim had won the award two years earlier.)
Perry was 19-19 and 21-13 over the next two years. The Indians traded him to the Texas Rangers during the 1975 season and he went to the NL's San Diego Padres in 1978, when he won another Cy Young Award. Perry led the league in victories with a 21-6 record and in winning percentage at .778.
That was his last good season. After going 12-11 in 1979, he spent the 1980 season with Texas and the New York Yankees, went to the Atlanta Braves in 1981 and to the Seattle Mariners in 1982. He retired after winning only 7 games while losing 14 with Seattle and the Kansas City Royals in 1983.
In 22 major-league seasons, Perry had a 314-265 record, with 53 shutouts and a 3.11 ERA. He struck out 3,534 hitters and walked 1,379 in 5,350 1/3 innings. He's one of only five pitchers to win 20 games for three different teams.