My First Cards

Playing a sort of six degrees of separation, we can connect Dennis Werth to Gaylord Perry, teammates on the 1980 Yankees.

Gaylord, left the Yankees after 1980 though and signed with the Atlanta Braves for a one year contract. When spring training opened in 1982 though, future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry wasn’t signed to any team yet. Being he was just 3 victories short of joining the 300 club, the Topps company was convinced some smart GM would pick him soon and cash in on the opportunity to get an attendance boost from his presence. But who? The cards had to be shipped, so they just made a card with a photo from Perry’s 1981 season.

The photo they chose, strikes me as a man in his older years, content with his place in the game. A little laid back but serious look with a hint of eagerness in his gaze, knowing his best days are behind him but enjoying the ride as long as it’ll last. At the time the picture was taken, perhaps Perry was imagining he might win his 300th game in the same stadium Hank Aaron hit his 715th HR. That would’ve been a nice twist too—a pitching milestone that hasn’t been accomplished in almost 20 years, being done in the same place as a huge hitting milestone.

But Perry’s 1981 was very unimpressive, nothing like his peak years. He’d been fading since he won his 2nd Cy Young in 1978 at the age of 40, and just puttering along like an old sloppy jalopy trying to keep up. From 1979-1981, he was a mere 30-33, with a 3.50 ERA, making him pretty average for that period….105 ERA+. So the Atlanta Braves felt they had better pitchers who could fill his slot in the rotation and let him go.

Eventually, the Seattle Mariners, a team with nothing to lose if Perry didn’t work out, signed him. Perry missed all of spring training, but made his first start for the Mariners on April 9. Less than a month later, on May 6 in Seattle’s Kingdome against the Yankees, he joined the 300 club. He allowed just 3 ER’s in a complete game effort, striking out 4.

By the end of the day, he was just the 15th pitcher to ever achieve this mark and he was 2nd all-time in strikeouts (2nd only to Walter Johnson). He also had a career ERA of exactly 3.00 up through that day, which is interesting since he had only allowed exactly 3 runs in the game, and it was his win # 300.

Some Gaylord Perry stats you won’t find on the back of his 1982 Topps card—

• …he had a 2.96 ERA against the AL West champ California Angels in 1982
• …had a career winning percentage higher on the road than at home, but a higher ERA on the road too.
• …when pitching against the Red Sox, he was 22-5 with a 2.40 ERA.
• …he struck out more Cincinnati Reds (250) than any other team he faced.
• …from 1966-1978, he was 243-176, 2.82 ERA, 2604 K’s, with a 127 ERA+.
• …in 1974 he lead the AL with a 144 ERA+, but was only 4th in the Cy Young voting results.