Gaylord Perry admits using the infamous spitball during his playing days in his autobiography in 2010
Gaylord Perry, a great right-hander during his playing days, popularly went down in history for striking out more than 3,500 batters and becoming a Hall of Famer, but more questionably, he will be remembered for his infamous spitball.
The spitball was and is an illegal pitch in the game of baseball. It was outlawed by the MLB in 1920.
Pitching legend Gaylord Perry talks about the spitball on a classic episode of "Late Night with David Letterman"! (1983) #MLB #Baseball #RIPGaylord https://t.co/lN8iF5KYbJ
"Pitching legend Gaylord Perry talks about the spitball on a classic episode of 'Late Night with David Letterman'! (1983) #MLB #Baseball #RIPGaylord" - Baseball by BSmile via Twitter
Perry was introduced to the spitball by Bob Shaw in 1964 when they played together on the San Francisco Giants.
While many attempts were made to catch him in the act, they were all futile enough. There was never enough proof of him doing so.
His admission to using the spitball and the greaseball in 'Me and the Spitter: An Autobiographical Confession' written with Bob Sudyk enraged opposing players and managers even more.
Perry wrote, "I became an outlaw in the strictest sense of the word—a man who lives outside the law, in this case, the law of baseball."
Perry even famously admitted trying multiple other contrabands on the ball apart from the generally used saliva, causing a furor in MLB at the time.
“The mud ball, the emery ball, the K-Y ball, just to name a few,” he was quoted saying. “During the next eight years or so, I reckon I tried everything on the old apple but salt and pepper and chocolate sauce toppin’.”
Perry’s five-year-old daughter Allison was famously quizzed on whether her daddy threw the spitball during the 1971 playoffs between the Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates, to which she replied; “It’s a hard slider.”
For a player with a huge arsenal of deliveries, including curves, sliders, sinkers, changeups, forkballs, and an outstanding fastball, including a split-fingered one, it still remains a mystery to many why he chose to throw the spitball.
Gaylord Perry in MLB
Gaylord Perry played in the MLB for eight different MLB teams across a span of 22 years.
He compiled 314 wins with 3,534 strikeouts and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Perry is also a five-time All-Star, a two-time Cy Young Awardee, and the first pitcher to do so in both leagues, first with the Cleveland Indians in 1972 and then with the San Diego Padres in 1978.
Gaylord Perry died on December 1, 2022. He was 84.
Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a master of the spitball, died Thursday. He was 84.
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"Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a master of the spitball, died Thursday. He was 84." - AP Sports, Twitter