Hall of Famer Perry, spitball master, dies at 84
GAFFNEY, S.C. — Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a master of the spitball who wrote a book about using the pitch, died Thursday. He was 84.
Perry died at his home in Gaffney at about 5 a.m. Thursday of natural causes, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said. He did not provide additional details.
“Gaylord Perry was a consistent workhorse and a memorable figure in his Hall of Fame career,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, adding, “he will be remembered among the most accomplished San Francisco Giants ever … and remained a popular teammate and friend throughout his life.”
The native of Williamston, North Carolina, made history as the first player to win the Cy Young in both leagues, with Cleveland in 1972 and San Diego in 1978 just after turning 40.
Perry went 24-16 in his debut season with Cleveland after 10 years with the San Francisco Giants. He was 21-6 in his first season with the Padres in 1978 for his fifth and final 20-win season.
“Before I won my second Cy Young I thought I was too old — I didn’t think the writers would vote for me,” Perry said in an article on the National Baseball Hall of Fame website. “But they voted on my performance, so I won it.”
Perry, who pitched for eight major-league teams from 1962 until 1983, was a five-time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. He had a career record of 314-255, finished with 3,534 strikeouts and used a pitching style where he doctored baseballs or made batters believe he was doctoring them.
The Texas Rangers, whom Perry played for twice, said in a statement Thursday that the pitcher was “a fierce competitor every time he took the ball and more often than not gave the Rangers an opportunity to win the game.”
“The Rangers express their sincere condolences to Gaylord’s family at this difficult time,” the team’s statement said. “This baseball great will be missed.”
Perry’s 1974 autobiography was titled “Me and the Spitter,” and he wrote it in that when he started in 1962 he was the “11th man on an 11-man pitching staff” for the Giants. He needed an edge and learned the spitball from San Francisco teammate Bob Shaw.
Perry said he first threw it in May 1964 against the New York Mets, pitched 10 innings without giving up a run and soon after entered the Giants’ starting rotation.
He also wrote in the book that he chewed slippery elm bark to build up his saliva, and eventually stopped throwing the pitch in 1968 after MLB ruled pitchers could no longer touch their fingers to their mouths before touching the baseball.
According to his book, he looked for other substances, like petroleum jelly, to doctor the baseball. He used various motions and routines to touch different parts of his jersey and body to get hitters thinking he was applying a foreign substance.
Perry was ejected from a game just once for doctoring a baseball — when he was with Seattle in August 1982. In his final season with Kansas City, Perry and teammate Leon Roberts tried to hide George Brett’s infamous pine-tar bat in the clubhouse but was stopped by a guard. Perry was ejected for his role in that game, too.
After his career, Perry founded the baseball program at Limestone College in Gaffney and was its coach for the first three years.
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Adam Rittenberg
Wisconsin starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., a transfer from Maryland, was ruled out of Thursday’s 17-0 home win over Miami (Ohio) after leaving in the first half because of a lower-body injury.
Edwards was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter after he handed off the ball and then started running. His left leg buckled and he fell to the turf. Edwards, 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, went into Wisconsin’s injury tent before walking to the locker room.
He was not in uniform on the Badgers’ sideline during the second half, and was replaced by Danny O’Neil, a transfer from San Diego State.
When asked about Edwards’ status after the game, Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell told the Big Ten Network: “Don’t know anything as of now, but he’s out here with us. That’s a good sign.”
Wisconsin made a significant offseason push for Edwards, who started 11 games for Maryland last fall and finished second in the Big Ten in passing yards average (261.9 ypg) and fourth in completions (273). He earned 2023 Music City Bowl MVP honors in leading Maryland to a win over Auburn.
Edwards began his college career at Wake Forest before transferring to Maryland in 2022.
In 2024, the Badgers lost quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, a transfer from Miami, because of a torn ACL against Alabama in Week 3.
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Mark Schlabach
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Mark Schlabach
ESPN Senior Writer
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
LSU starting safety A.J. Haulcy will be suspended for the first half of Saturday’s game at No. 4 Clemson, the NCAA told ESPN on Thursday.
Haulcy, who transferred to LSU in May and was considered one of the top defensive players available in the portal, was suspended for a fight in his final regular-season game last year while playing for Houston.
The news came as a surprise to No. 9 LSU, as team officials were not informed of the suspension until Wednesday, sources told ESPN. The suspension leaves LSU without a key member of its secondary in a road game against Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, one of the country’s top quarterbacks.
Haulcy was ejected for his role in a fracas late in Houston’s 30-18 loss to BYU in November.
A few factors might have led to some of the ambiguity and confusion around the suspension. Haulcy was initially ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct, a penalty that wouldn’t generally yield a suspension. However, officials clarified after the game that Haulcy was ejected for fighting, which does result in a suspension.
Houston’s coaching staff was made aware of the classification of his ejection and the first-half suspension in December 2024 in a formal letter from the NCAA. According to sources, Haulcy says he was not informed.
Haulcy’s transfer to LSU in May also appears to have caused some communication issues on the suspension, though NCAA rules are clear that a suspension follows a player after a transfer and there is no appeal process.
Clemson finished No. 15 in the country in pass offense last season and returns Klubnik and a majority of its offensive weapons. LSU’s secondary was a weak spot last year, as the Tigers finished No. 76 nationally in pass defense.
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Eli Lederman
Five-star pass catcher Tristen Keys, ESPN’s No. 2 wide receiver in the 2026 class, flipped his commitment from LSU to Tennessee on Thursday afternoon, a source told ESPN.
Keys, who is 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, is the No. 10 prospect in the 2026 ESPN 300. He is the second-ranked member of the Vols’ 2026 class, trailing only five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon, ESPN’s No. 8 recruit this cycle.
Keys, who is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, had verbally committed to the Tigers since March 19. However, he maintained an open recruitment throughout the summer, speaking with multiple programs during official visits to Auburn, Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M. With Keys’ flip, LSU has lost a five-star wide receiver pledge in consecutive cycles, after Dakorien Moore‘s decommitment in 2025.
Keys headlines a stacked pass-catching class that the Vols are building around Brandon, ESPN’s No. 3 pocket passer prospect. Keys joins Salesi Moa (No. 35 overall), Tyreek King (No. 52) and Joel Wyatt (No. 66) as the program’s fourth top-100 wide receiver pledge in 2026. Tennessee ranked 15th in ESPN’s class rankings for the cycle prior to Keys’ flip.
Keys caught 58 passes for 1,275 yards and 14 touchdowns in his junior season last fall, guiding Hattiesburg (Miss.) High School to Mississippi’s 6A state title game. He later participated in the Under Armour All-America Game and the Polynesian Bowl earlier this year.
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