Gaylord Perry tossed the rods in the back of his pickup truck and got ready to do some fly fishing in Yellowstone Park. First, though, he had to find a newspaper.
Without a TV or radio, Perry didn’t know if Cliff Lee had gotten his 20th win.
Once he saw Monday night’s Cleveland-Chicago box score and that Lee was indeed a 20-game winner — the Indians’ first since Perry in 1974 — the Hall of Fame pitcher with the legendary spitball resumed his vacation.
“I was so very pleased that Cliff had a great, great game,” Perry, a native of Williamston, said over the phone on Tuesday. “Plus, he got a shutout.”
Lee, who spent part of 2007 in the minor leagues, became the Indians’ first 20-game winner in 34 years on Monday night when he tossed a five-hitter against the White Sox.
Lee (20-2) dominated one of the AL’s hardest-hitting teams, holding the AL Central-leading White Sox to five singles with another efficient performance in a season of them. He joined Perry along with Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn and 20 others who have worn a Cleveland uniform in the 20-win club.
With pitch counts, relief specialists and overly controlling managers, 20-game winners are far more rare than when Perry, who won 314 games in 22 seasons, pitched. In 1974, the AL had nine pitchers win 20 games. Last season, Boston’s Josh Beckett was the league’s only 20-game winner, and the year before, no pitcher reached the 20-win plateau.
The 69-year-old Perry — his birthday is on Sept. 15 — said winning 20 games is much harder these days.
“It’s probably 50 percent tougher,” he said. “You don’t see as many complete games. I won a lot of games in the eighth and ninth innings because my teammates made good plays or I got me some runs. I’d say it’s twice as tough to win 20 games.
“So when someone does that, you’d better keep him.”
Perry, who lives in Spruce Pine, N.C., went 21-13 in ’74 for the Indians. That season, he pitched 322 innings, made 37 starts and completed 28 games — a remarkable number when you consider Toronto’s Roy Halladay led the league with seven last season.
Perry feels pitchers could stay in games longer if they just insisted upon it.
“I used to argue with managers all the time,” he said.
He recalled how after he was traded from Cleveland to Texas in 1975, Rangers manager Billy Martin came out to the mound in the ninth inning of a tight game against the New York Yankees to relieve him. Perry, who was beating Catfish Hunter 1-0 at the time, wasn’t coming out without a fight.
“I met Billy before he got to the foul line and said, ’You ain’t taking my butt out,”’ Perry said with a laugh. “I think pitchers, if they want to, can go nine or more. You have to know yourself and you have to know if you’re helping your team. I think you’re going to see more pitchers go more innings in the near future.”
Following his milestone win, Lee, who briefly met Perry during All-Star game festivities in July at Yankee Stadium, joked that he wouldn’t mind learning how to throw a spitball like Perry’s.
“He doesn’t need one, man,” Perry said. “He’s 20-2. He should throw what he’s got. Tell him if he wants to throw slop, I’ll be there for him.”
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Perry welcomes Lee into 20-win club
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Hayes, Harris Co-Players of the Year
When you have two dream players on your team at the same time, a coach can usually build a strong program through those two players. That is what first year Tarboro Lady Vikings head coach Leshaun Jenkins has done with the soccer team with the help of dream players Julie Hayes and Chandler Harris.
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KARATE
The students of Cunnningham Isshinryu Karate represented Tarboro and Edgecombe County well on Saturday, April 28th at the 14th Annual ECU Open Martial Arts Tournament. The tournament was held at the ECU Student Recreation Center and is one of the area’s largest martial arts events. It is open to all martial arts styles and systems. This year, more than 75 martial artists competed for medals.
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Abrams to play at Peace
Tarboro Vikings senior softball slugger Kailyn Abrams had decided to take her talents to the next level and play college softball at NCAA Division III William Peace University in Raleigh.
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Cougars Athletes of the Year
SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars athletes from left, Damien Bryant, Kelsey Page and Alexander Derby were selected as athletes of the year for the school on Monday during the awards banquet..
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Three inducted into SouthWest Hall of Fame
PINETOPS – The SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars honored three distinguished women Monday night during the annual athletics banquet. One inductee was an athlete and the other two spent more than 20 plus years coaching for SouthWest.
All three inductees were very dedicated to the Cougars athletic program and felt very honored to be inducted into the SouthWest Hall of Fame. -
Tarboro eliminated after 4-1 loss
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Tarboro Parks and Recreation softball and baseball scores
The following are scores and results from the Tarboro Parks and Recreation softball and Cal Ripken baseball leagues from this past week.
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Young Vikings struggle; lose 4-1
Coming into the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A state playoffs the Tarboro Lady Vikings were given a No. 2 seed in the East bracket and were looking to make a run in the playoffs. The Franklinton Lady Rams had something to say about that Thursday when the two teams faced off at Indian Lake Sports Complex. The Rams defeated Tarboro 4-1, which puts an end to the Vikings remarkable season under first year head coach Leshaun Jenkins.
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Tarboro Women's Club
Amy Wood Pasquini, marketing director at Our State Magazine, spoke to the Tarboro Women's Club last Thursday about North Carolina travel, history and culture as seen through the pages of the magazine.
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Long is dedicated to tennis
Tarboro Vikings junior, Lane Long has been a dominating force on the tennis courts this season. He has risen as one of the top players in the state in high school tennis. Long finished in fourth place at the Eastern Regionals last week, which earned him a spot in the NCHSAA 2-A individual state championships this weekend in Cary at the Cary Tennis Center. He is carrying a 23-5 record into the championships.
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