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In 1974, in Cleveland second baseman Duane Kuiper’s first month in the major leagues, he started for the first time behind veteran star pitcher Gaylord Perry. Seconds before Kuiper ran to his position to begin the game, Perry looked at him and said, “If you make an error behind me today, you’ll never play another day in the big leagues. Do you understand?!”

That was Gaylord Perry, who did so much more than throw a spitball. He had great stuff, he was a big, strong, rough, gruff farmer from North Carolina, he was irascible, wildly competitive and, like most great pitchers, really mean, fearless and hated to lose. He spoke freely even if it meant angering an opponent or teammate. He played for eight teams, during which time he asked to be traded, threatened to retire, nearly fought with teammate Frank Robinson and, in the famous Pine Tar Game in 1983, confiscated George Brett’s bat, was apprehended by umpires, and thrown out of the game. There was never any backing down by Perry, not from his debut at age 22 with the San Francisco Giants in 1962 or, 22 seasons later, at age 44, with the Seattle Mariners — he was the Ancient Mariner — and Kansas City Royals in 1983.

Which is why it seems unfair that Perry, who died Thursday at the age of 84, is often best remembered for throwing a spitball (even if his 1974 autobiography is titled “Me and The Spitter”). To some, that made him an overrated pitcher. More likely, more accurately, he was underrated.

Perry won 314 games with a 3.11 ERA and 3,534 strikeouts. The only pitchers in history who can match all three of those numbers are Walter Johnson and Tom Seaver. Perry was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in each league — in 1972 for Cleveland and in 1978 at age 39 for the San Diego Padres. He and his brother, Jim, are the only pair of brothers to each win a Cy Young. Gaylord Perry won more games than any pitcher in the 1960s and ’70s combined. It took three attempts, but Perry was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.

“He was tough,” Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Stargell once said. “He was great. And he pitched angry.”

Of course, Perry did indeed throw a spitball, a pitch he allegedly learned in 1964 from teammate Bob Shaw. Opponents occasionally complained about him loading up. In 1973, New York Yankees manager Ralph Houk charged the mound and pulled Perry’s cap off his head. But at least one of his catchers in the 1970s said that Perry threw only two or three spitters per game, when he really needed a big out. Perry went through the same gyrations on the mound, appearing to touch his cap, his hair, his jersey. In retirement, Perry told me, “I wanted the hitters to think I might throw a spitter. If I could mess with their heads and their approach, I’d have a better chance of getting them out. And I loved getting them out.”

Perry was also remarkably durable. He threw 5,350⅓ innings, sixth most of all time, only 36 fewer than Nolan Ryan. For a nine-year stretch, Perry threw at least 300 innings in a season seven times in an eight-year span. For a 10-year period, he averaged over 300 innings pitched per season. He threw 53 shutouts, tied for 16th most with Jim Palmer, two fewer than Steve Carlton. Perry’s 1.181 WHIP also is in the top 20 all time, just ahead of the great Bob Gibson.

“There were so many great pitchers in the National League in the ’60s and ’70s,” former teammate Willie McCovey once said. “We had one of the very best on our team in Juan Marichal. Not everyone appreciated Gaylord. Every time he pitched, I thought we’d win.”

About the only thing Perry — also a basketball and football star in high school in North Carolina — didn’t do well was hit: he finished with a career .131 average with six home runs. But in 1964, a writer told Giants manager Alvin Dark that Perry, then 24, was a good hitting pitcher, and might hit a home run someday. Dark responded, saying, “Mark my words, a man will land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.”

Five years later, at 1:17 p.m. Pacific time on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to set foot on the moon. Thirty minutes later, roughly 238,900 miles away, in the third inning at Candlestick Park, Perry hit his first major league homer, a blast off the Dodgers’ Claude Osteen.

Three years later, Perry was traded by the Giants to Cleveland in a deal for ace Sam McDowell, who would win 19 games the rest of his career. Perry would win 180. Perry is still beloved in San Francisco, where a statue of Perry was unveiled at Oracle Park in 2016, in honor of the 10 years he spent there to start his career.

Kuiper, always playful, now calls games for the Giants and once had someone take a picture of him saluting Perry’s statue. The first salute, as he recalled the veteran pitcher threatening him before that start in 1974, was the middle finger variety. The second was a salute of a respect to a great, great pitcher.

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Nats’ Strasburg, in retirement impasse, put on IL

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Nats' Strasburg, in retirement impasse, put on IL

CINCINNATI — Pitcher Stephen Strasburg was put on the 60-day injured list by the Washington Nationals ahead of Thursday’s opener at Cincinnati.

The 2019 World Series MVP has not pitched since June 2022 because of injuries that have derailed his career. He still has three seasons left on a seven-year, $245 million contract.

Strasburg, 35, decided in late August to retire, but the Nationals announced in September that there would be no retirement news conference. Owner Mark Lerner said in a statement at the time that the team looked forward to seeing Strasburg at spring training.

The right-hander did not report to the Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. The only practical impact of him being on the roster is it takes up a protected spot for the Rule 5 draft in December.

Strasburg gets $35 million annually, with $11,428,571 per year deferred at 1% interest. The deferred money is payable in equal installments of $26,666,667 on July 1 in 2027, 2028 and 2029, with an interest payment of $3,999,974 on Dec. 31, 2029.

Restructuring the money Strasburg is owed could be part of a retirement agreement.

Washington also selected the contracts of right-handers Matt Barnes and Derek Law along with outfielders Eddie Rosario and Jesse Winker from Triple-A Rochester. Barnes, Rosario and Winker get $2 million salaries while in the major leagues, and Law gets $1.5 million.

The Nationals also placed right-handers Cade Cavalli and Mason Thompson (Tommy John surgery) and left-hander Jose Ferrer (left lat strain) on the 60-day injured list and outfielder Stone Garrett (recovery from left ankle reconstruction surgery) on the 10-day injured list, a move retroactive to Monday.

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Manfred eyes ‘short’ time for Ohtani investigation

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Manfred eyes 'short' time for Ohtani investigation

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday the league is committed to its investigation of the scandal surrounding Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and hopes it will take a “short” time to resolve.

Last week Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired after questions surrounding at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from the superstar’s bank account to a bookmaking operation.

Ohtani claims his close friend Mizuhara repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the Padres.

“Given the way the story unfolded, it’s important in assuring our fans about the integrity of the game that we verify the things that Mr. Ohtani said, it’s really that simple,” Manfred said on Major League Baseball Network’s “High Heat with Chris Russo” on Thursday.

Mizuhara incurred the gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation, multiple sources told ESPN. How he came to lose his job started with reporters asking questions about the wire transfers.

“It’s really difficult for the federal authorities to cooperate with us fully when they have their own ongoing investigation so I think this is one where we’ll have to proceed on our own,” Manfred said. “We never have the kind of authority that law enforcement people have but we manage to get these investigations done and find the facts and I’m sure we will on this one.

“I hope [it’s] short, but I just don’t know.”

Ohtani’s camp initially said Ohtani transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara’s debt and presented Mizuhara for an interview with ESPN, during which he laid out the process in detail. The following day, a statement from Berk Brettler LLP, the law firm representing Ohtani in the matter, instead said the two-way star “has been the victim of massive theft.” Mizuhara then told ESPN that Ohtani had no knowledge of his debt and that Ohtani had not transferred the money.

Ohtani’s representatives declined again Tuesday to answer ESPN’s questions about which authorities they have contacted to report their allegation of theft against Ohtani’s former interpreter.

ESPN has been asking repeatedly for the information since Ohtani’s lawyers first issued a statement last week alleging that “Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”

When asked Tuesday to provide proof that Ohtani or his representatives have reported the theft to an investigating agency, a spokesperson for Ohtani declined to comment.

ESPN received no confirmation from any of the likely local, state or federal agencies that could investigate allegations of theft that they received a report from Ohtani’s camp.

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Yanks put Cole on 60-day IL due to injured elbow

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Yanks put Cole on 60-day IL due to injured elbow

Any dreams of a speedy return to the mound for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole were dashed Thursday when the New York Yankees moved the right-hander to the 60-day injured list due to elbow inflammation.

On March 16, Cole said he wouldn’t throw for three to four weeks in an effort to heal his ailing throwing elbow, telling reporters that nerve irritation and edema were the source of his problem, with rest and recovery the prescription.

The Yankees finalized their Opening Day roster Thursday morning, also moving right-handers Tommy Kahnle (right shoulder inflammation) and McKinley Moore (right knee bursitis) to the 15-day IL and infielders DJ LeMahieu (right foot contusion) and Oswald Peraza (right shoulder strain) to the 10-day IL. All four moves were retroactive to Monday.

New York added newly acquired infielder Jon Berti to the active roster, recalled right-hander Luis Gil from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and signed right-hander Nick Burdi to a major league contract and selected him to the roster.

Cole, 33, pitched just twice this spring, once in a Grapefruit League game on March 1 and then in a simulated game six days later. He subsequently was shut down and underwent medical tests.

Cole has been one of the most durable pitchers in the majors, making at least 30 starts in every season since 2017 except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Cole is coming off a season in which he went 15-4 while leading the AL in ERA (2.63) and innings pitched (209). He struck out 222 and walked 48.

The Yankees open the 2024 season at the Houston Astros. Nestor Cortes will start for the Yankees against Framber Valdez in a matchup of left-handers.

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