The Other Perry: Gaylord’s Big Brother Jim Helped Pitch the Twins to Two Division Titles

 

On May 2, 1963, the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians completed a swap of starting pitchers. Southpaw Jack Kralick was headed to Cleveland while right-hander Jim Perry was on his way to the Twin Cities. Kralick (34–32, 3.64 ERA) and Perry (52–49, 3.87) had similar career numbers. Perry, however, had been used more out of the bullpen. This was a role he did not like. “I had my best year as a full-time starter in 1960,” he said. “Working as an every-day fourth-or fifth-day starter, you can better regulate your throwing between assignments. Lately I’ve been going between relief and starting. Some arms take to it. But warming up virtually every day and then sitting down is not the best way to pitch.”1

The Perry-Kralick trade was about two pitchers whom it was thought would benefit from a change of scenery to achieve greater success. Cleveland desperately needed a left-handed starter and had coveted Kralick for some time. According to the Minneapolis Star, the Twins had been holding out for Gary Bell but “settled” for Perry when Cleveland would not budge.2

Unfortunately for Perry, the Twins used him in much the same manner as the Tribe had. While he started 25 times in 35 games as a Twin in 1963, he started just once in 42 appearances the next year. In 1965, Minnesota captured the AL pennant, and Perry was a respectable 12–7 with 19 starts and 17 relief appearances. In a seven-game World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Perry made two appearances, both out of the bullpen.

In 1969, because of expansion, major league baseball split each 12-team league into two six-team divisions, East and the West. Minnesota was placed in the AL West with the Oakland A’s, California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, and Chicago White Sox.

Perry (20–6, 2.82) and Dave Boswell (20–12, 3.23) led the pitching staff as the Twins finished 97–65 in 1969, nine games better than second-place Oakland.

Offensively, the Twins were a robust club. Harmon Killebrew, the league MVP, led the league in home runs, walks, RBIs and on-base average. Rod Carew was at the top of the charts in batting average. Tony Oliva paced the AL in hits and doubles.

Despite the grandiose statistics and their formidable play on the diamond, the Twins’ season ended on a disappointing note. In the first-ever American League Championship Series, Minnesota was swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles, the Eastern Division champs. Two of those losses were extra-inning affairs, and the losing margin in each was a single run.

The Twins front office made moves in the offseason, starting with the firing of manager Billy Martin following his only season with the club. Although he would be a winning manager wherever he skippered a team, Martin would eventually wear out his welcome, and this was the first example of that. Perhaps a barroom brawl in which he knocked out Boswell expedited his exit. There was no doubting Martin’s baseball acumen. It was his mercurial and bellicose behavior, however, that unnerved players and the front office. Martin was replaced with Bill Rigney. The former New York Giants infielder had most recently managed the Los Angeles/California Angels (1961–69).

With Killebrew holding down third base, one of the Twins’ budding stars, Graig Nettles, was expendable. Nettles and pitcher Dean Chance were shipped to Cleveland as part of a six-player deal that netted starting pitcher Luis Tiant. In 1968, Tiant had been 21–9 with a league-leading 1.60 ERA. In 1969, he he’d been 9–20 with a 3.71 ERA. Again, he’d led the league, but this time in losses.

 

 

With their key personnel intact, there was no reason to believe the Twins couldn’t repeat as division champions in 1970. For Perry and Tiant, the season started in grand fashion. Perry was chosen as the Opening Day starter on April 7 against the White Sox at Comiskey Park. He struck out six in a 12–0 shutout. He followed that up with another complete-game win at California on April 15. Perry won three games in a row and five of his first six.

Although he’d been bothered by a slight pain in his right shoulder since spring training, Tiant displayed his old form, starting the season 6–0. But the pain worsened, and an examination revealed that Tiant had a crack in a bone in his shoulder. Rest was the prescription, and in late May, he was shelved for 10 weeks.

The Twins replaced him with Bert Blyleven. The 19-year-old right-hander had gone 4–2 at Triple-A Evansville. He made his major-league debut on June 5, earning a 2–1 victory over the Washington Senators. Boswell was another casualty. He had back problems that had begun in spring training, could not follow through on his fastball, and was placed on the injured list at the end of July. In addition, the Twins would be without second baseman Carew, who injured his knee on a fielding play at Milwaukee on June 22. At the time, Carew was batting .378.

Minnesota’s revamped pitching staff consisted of Perry, Blyleven, and two southpaws: Jim Kaat and Tom Hall. It was Perry who took the position of number one starter. He won seven of eight games from June 6 to July 8. Despite the wins, Perry’s ERA rose from 3.00 to 3.24. In his seven wins, Minnesota’s offense backed him with 6.86 runs per game.

At the All-Star break, the Twins (54–28) held a five-game lead over second-place California (51–35). Perry paced the team with a 13–7 record and a 3.42 ERA. He was tied with Oakland’s Catfish Hunter and Cleveland’s Sam McDowell for the league lead in wins, which earned him a spot in the All-Star Game, played at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. It was the second time that Perry was selected to play in the Midsummer Classic.3

In the opposite dugout was Jim Perry’s younger brother, Gaylord (13–8, 3.74), representing the San Francisco Giants. The Perry boys became the first brother combination to pitch for opposing sides in the All-Star Game.4 “Gaylord the Great” was often criticized by players and scrutinized by umpires for allegedly throwing a spitball.5 Martin referred to Gaylord as “the cheating brother.” Perhaps poking fun at the debate, Gaylord penned an autobiography, Me and the Spitter, with sportswriter Bob Sudyk, in 1974.6

 

 

The Twins opened the second half of their schedule in Baltimore. The Orioles were a formidable club and held a six-game lead over the Detroit Tigers at the break. They split the first two games of the series, setting up the finale on Sunday, July 18. Perry beat Dave McNally, 6–3. However, a week later at Metropolitan Stadium, McNally and Perry hooked up again in the third game of the series on July 26. This time McNally went the distance to win his 13th game of the year. The Orioles drubbed the Twins, 11–1. Perry gave up three runs in six innings, but the bullpen was shelled. The only run McNally gave up was a solo home run by Perry in the fifth inning. It was Perry’s fifth, and last, career home run.

One of Perry’s best outings of the season came in a complete-game shutout of the New York Yankees on August 19. Perry disposed of the Yankees in a quick 1:48, running his record to 18–10. “When he walked that first man on four pitches, I almost went out to the mound,” Rigney said. “He didn’t look like he got anything on any of those pitches. After that he was just super.”7

The Twins (76–54) led the Angels (74–58) by three games at the close of August. Perry then exhibited the stuff one might expect of a number one starter, going 5–1 with a 2.72 ERA in September, stringing together a four-game winning streak from August 27 to September 13. He posted his highest monthly strikeout total of the season with 33.

Perry saved the best for last. On September 25, he shut down the Royals for a complete-game, two-hit, 1–0 win, equaling his season high with seven strikeouts. “I’m not a no-hit pitcher,” he said. “I don’t have no-hit stuff. I’m a control pitcher, not over-powering.”8

The Twins finished 98–64, posting a 21–10 record in September to cruise to their second straight division title. Perry finished the season with a record of 24–12 and a 3.04 ERA.

 

 

The crown jewel of Perry’s outstanding season was earned in the postseason. On November 6, 1970, Jim Perry became the first pitcher in franchise history to win a Cy Young award.

The final voting results are below:

 

In 1969, Detroit’s Denny McLain and Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar had tied for the AL Cy Young Award. Two writers from each team voted, and of the 24 votes, McLain, and Cuellar each received 10. The voting changed in 1970 to avoid future ties. First place was worth five points, second place three, and third place one.

It was only the second time a reliever, Ron Perranoski, received a first-place vote.9 No pitcher was mentioned on all 24 ballots. Perry was acknowledged on the most ballots with 19. The six first-place votes given to Perry and Cuellar are the lowest total in Cy Young Award voting history.

In the National League, Gaylord Perry (23–13, 3.20) finished second to Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals (23–7, 3.12). The Perrys were the first brother combination to win 20 games in the same season.10 Gaylord would win the Cy Young Award two years later with Cleveland, and then again in 1978 with the San Diego Padres.

“I was a little surprised by the vote,” Jim Perry said, “but I’m happy to win it. Next year I hope I can win 20 again and the Twins can go all the way to the World Series. I kept the faith through some trying times in baseball when I wasn’t getting much work. I’ve tried to impress this on youngsters who are down in their spirits with the Twins.”11

“Perry pitched well, it’s a great honor for him and I can’t knock him,” Jim Palmer said. “But I really feel in my mind that I pitched better than Perry. And McNally and Cuellar pitched better than I did. Maybe I’m prejudiced, but I really think a pitcher from the championship team would win.”12

For the second straight year, Baltimore swept Minnesota in three games in the ALCS. However, this time, the scores were more lopsided as the O’s outscored the Twins 27–10.

Jim Perry pitched two more years for the Twins, totaling 10 seasons. He was 128–90 with a 3.15 ERA over that stretch. His win total ranks him sixth all-time in Twins/Senators history. While Perry enjoyed a successful 17-year career in the big leagues, his 1970 season in the Twin Cities was his finest.

JOSEPH WANCHO lives in Westlake, Ohio, and has been a SABR member since 2005.

 

Notes

1 Tom Briere, “Perry Welcomes Twin Starting Job on ‘Club That Wants Me,’” Minneapolis Tribune, May 3, 1963, 21.

2 Charles Johnson, “Deal Gamble for Both Sides,” Minneapolis Star, May 3, 1963, 9C.

3 Perry had been an All-Star with Cleveland in 1961.

4 The Perrys were not the first brothers to face off in the All-Star game. In 1969 Lee May of the Cincinnati Reds played for the National League while his brother Carlos represented the Chicago White Sox for the AL.

5 Gaylord Perry with Bob Sudyk, Me and the Spitter: An Autobiographical Confession (New York: E.P Dutton & Co., 1974), 202.

6 For more on Gaylord and the spitter, see Mark Armour, “Gaylord Perry,” Society for American Baseball Research, undated, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/gaylord-perry/.

7 Jon Roe, “Perry, Twins Zip Past Yanks 3–0,” Minneapolis Tribune, August 20, 1970, 29.

8 Tom Briere, “Perry Two-Hitter Blanks K.C. 1–0,” Minneapolis Tribune, September 2, 1970, 15.

9 Reliever Lindy McDaniel received one vote in 1960.

10 In 1979, Phil Niekro of Atlanta (21–20) and Joe Niekro of Houston, (21–10) tied for the National League lead in wins. Phil also led the league in losses.

11 Tom Briere, “Weaver Bitter at Perry’s Cy Young Award,” Minneapolis Tribune, November 7, 1970, 13.

12 Lou Hatter, “Concentration of Talent Costly in Cy Young Race,” Baltimore Sun, November 7, 1970, B1.