Gaylord Perry

Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for eight teams from 1962 to 1983, becoming one of the most durable and successful pitchers in history. A five-time All-Star, Perry was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. He won the American League award in 1972 after leading the league with 24 wins and a 1.92 earned run average for the fifth-place Cleveland Indians, and took the National League award in 1978 with the San Diego Padres after again leading the league with 21 wins. His 1978 award announcement came just as he turned 40, making him the oldest pitcher to win it, a record that stood for 26 years. He and his older brother Jim Perry, who were Cleveland teammates in 1974–1975, became the first brothers to both win 200 games in the major leagues and remain the only brothers to both win Cy Young Awards. Perry gained notoriety for doctoring baseballs, throwing spitballs, and perhaps even more for making batters think he was throwing them on a regular basis. He went so far as to title his 1974 autobiography Me and the Spitter.