Keep in mind what I disclose about Gaylord is about a Hall of Famer who pitched for 22 seasons and won 314 games. He appeared in 5 All Star Games and was the first to ever cop the Cy Young Award in BOTH leagues. In other words, he wasn't chopped liver. Based on his fame, one might expect him to be a stuffed shirt or arrogant, conceited and so forth and so on. I know from first hand experience-he wasn't. He struck me as down-to-earth as the Williamston North Carolina soil on which he walks today.
I had posted previously that across the plane aisle from my son and me, he sat while flying to Riverfront for the 1988 All Star Game. Now I gather that most baseball fans know that Gaylord was accused of throwing a spitball so when I spotted him, from my window seat I more or less stood up hunched, waved at him and when I got his attention, I put my index and middle finger on my lower lip to simulate loading up a baseball. This of course indicated I had recognized him. He smiled and nodded afirmatively, indicating that indeed he was Perry. I didn't want to yell out his name for fear of ambusing him with autograph hounds.
At any rate, as I wrote previously, the man was a gem. Aside from talking baseball to me and my son at the hotel, he introduced us to a lot of the great Old Timers. I fondly remember the introduction to the great Chisox shortstop, Luke Appling, another Hall of Famer. While talking to Luke, who at that time was 81 years old, a very attractive airline stewardess walked by rather quickly. She caught Luke's eye and he began taking off after her. I grabbed him by the arm and said, "Luke, you're an old man. What are you gonna do when you catch her? With a faked sob he said, "Gee, I never thought about it until you reminded me."
Getting back to Gaylord, years later after meeting him and being treated so warmly, I came upon a most interesting baseball game broadcast sent to me by a friend in Phoenix, Bob Dreste. The date of the game was July 20,1969 and featured Vin Scully calling the Dodgers at Giants. In that game, Gaylord hits his first home run. I thought I might repay the kindness he showed me by sending him a copy and I got his full address from the MLB Alumni Association.
About two weeks later, quite unexpectedly I received a letter postmarked Williamston, NC. It was a lengthy thank you letter from Gaylord but it was much more than just thanks. It contained some fascinating history which I want to share with you. By the way, the entire letter was written in his own longhand; he had gone out of his way to add history to his thank you.
Alvin Dark managed the SF Giants from 1961-1964. Gaylord pitched for that team from 1962-1971. So this incident had to have taken place from '62-'64. The Giants were taking batting practice and Gaylord was on a long ball tear, knocking the pill over walls, fences etc. A beat writer for one of the SF newspapers approached Dark while the manager stood watching Perry's bursts of power. He said to Manager Dark, "Look at the way Perry is blasting the ball. Why keep him as a pitcher? Turn the power laden guy into an outfielder to get him into the lineup every day." Dark's reply? "When Perry hits a home run in a game that counts, it'll be on the day a man walks on the moon."
Neil Armstrong walked on the moon on July 20,1969.
Charlie