How Did Gaylord Perry Die? Hall of Fame Pitcher Cause of Death Explained

Gaylord Perry, a pitcher in the baseball Hall of Fame, passes away at his Upstate home.

What Happened to Gaylord Perry?

S.C.’s CHEROKEE COUNTY (WSPA) – Pitcher Gaylord Jackson Perry, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, passed away at the age of 84 on Thursday morning in Gaffney.

Around five in the morning, the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office declared that Perry had passed away naturally. Over the course of a 20-year Major League Baseball career, Perry won 2 Cy Young Awards and 314 games.

In 1987, Perry established and oversaw the baseball program at Limestone College in Gaffney. In 1991, he was admitted to the Hall of Fame.

Gaylord Perry Cause of Death

Gaylord Perry, has passed away at the age of 84. Gaylord Perry cause of death was natural and it is due to natural causes. Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry died overnight. He was 84. Here we are at a spring training game in Surprise, Arizona in 2012. He was signing baseballs for charity.

Who was Gaylord Jackson Perry?

Gaylord Jackson Perry was an American professional baseball player who played from September 15, 1938, to December 1, 2022.

From 1962 to 1983, he pitched right-handedly in Major League Baseball for eight different organizations. Perry accumulated 314 victories, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average throughout a 22-year baseball career. In 1991, his third year of eligibility, he was chosen to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Perry, a five-time All-Star, was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues: the American League with the Cleveland Indians in 1972 and the National League with the San Diego Padres in 1978. Perry’s Cy Young Award announcement came as he turned 40, making him the oldest recipient of the award, a record that stood for 26 years.

Along with his brother Jim Perry, he holds the distinction of being the second-winningest sibling duo in baseball history, trailing only the knuckleball-throwing Niekro brothers Phil and Joe. In 1982, Perry joined the 300-win club while pitching for the Seattle Mariners and became its fifteenth member.

Perry went so far as to call his 1974 autobiography Me and the Spitter, but despite his reputation for altering baseballs (e.g., throwing spitballs) and perhaps even more so for tricking batters into thinking he was throwing them frequently, he was not ejected for the unlawful practice until August 23, 1982, in his 21st season in the majors.

Gaylord Perry’s Early Life

Gaylord Perry was born in Williamston, North Carolina, and was given the name in honor of a close friend of his father who had passed away during the extraction of some teeth.

Gaylord was the son of farmers Evan and Ruby Perry. Evan Perry was a well-known sportsperson. He was raised in Williamston and the small community of Farmlife, a settlement situated inside the Township of Griffins, a minor division of Martin County, together with his older brother Jim Perry and younger sister Carolyn. Also, he helped his father cultivate the land owned by their family in this region.

When they were young, Jim and Gaylord both started playing baseball on the farm during their lunch break with their father. Later, all three of them would play on the same neighborhood semi-pro team.

Gaylord played baseball, basketball, and football while he was a student at Williamston High School. Before quitting football, he was an offensive and defensive end who was All-State as a sophomore and junior.

In Gaylord’s first year of basketball, Jim and Gaylord assisted Williamston in reaching the state championship game. Gaylord averaged roughly 30 points and 20 rebounds each game during his time at Williamston when the team had a 94-8 record.

Numerous offers of collegiate basketball scholarships were rejected by him. As a freshman, Perry played third base in baseball while Jim started as Williamston’s pitcher.

However, Gaylord started splitting the pitching responsibilities with Jim near the end of his first year. In 1955, Williamston High won the Class A state championship after the Perry brothers swept the best-of-three finals with back-to-back shutouts. Gaylord had a high school record of 33-5. In his home state, Perry attended Campbell University.