FOG BLOG SPORTS LOG: GAYLORD PERRY, SPITBALL PITCHER DIES AT 84!

Gaylord Perry, spitball-throwing Hall of Famer, dies at 84

He won the Cy Young Award twice in the 1970s and was the first pitcher to do so in both the American and National leagues Gaylord Perry, a burly Hall of Fame pitcher who struck out more than 3,500 batters and won 314 games while acquiring a reputation as the king of the spitball, the illegal pitch that he used — or pretended to use — while slinging his way to two Cy Young Awards in the 1970s, died Dec. 1 at his home in Gaffney, S.C. He was 84.

His death was announced by Major League Baseball, which did not cite a cause.

An intimidating, fiercely competitive hurler who spent the offseason working on a peanut farm in North Carolina, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Mr. Perry seemed tireless on the mound, never complaining of soreness while pitching 303 complete games and 53 shutouts. Playing for eight teams in 22 years, he pitched a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants in 1968 and became the first person to win the Cy Young Award, baseball’s top pitching honor, in both the National and American leagues.

Both times, he won during his first season with a new team, after being traded by executives who seemed to doubt his abilities.

When he received his first Cy Young, with the Cleveland Indians in 1972, he led the AL with 24 wins and 29 complete games. When he got his second, with the San Diego Padres in 1978, he had just turned 40 and was the oldest person to ever win the honor, setting a record that stood until 2004, when Roger Clemens earned his seventh Cy Young at age 42.

“They kept saying, ‘You’re too old to do this and that,’ but I think I showed them,” said Mr. Perry, who helped lead the Padres to the franchise’s first winning season.