Special Memory or Event? Want to have some fun? Advertise your business? Dedicate this page
From 1975 to 1977, two Hall of Fame right-handers, Jim Palmer and Gaylord Perry, faced off three times in dazzling fashion.
On June 13, 1975, 36-year old Gaylord Perry, less than three years removed from his 1972 Cy Young award-winning season, was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Texas Rangers in a blockbuster deal. The Rangers sent three pitchers, Jim Bibby, Jackie Brown, Rick Waits, AND $100,000 to the Indians for Perry’s services.
Perry got off to a rocky start with the Rangers, going 7-6, but he was riding a four-game winning streak into a Thursday night, August 21 matchup against Jim Palmer and the Orioles. Palmer, who would win his second Cy Young Award in 1975 and finish sixth in the MVP voting, was looking for his 20th win that night. The Orioles were in second place in the American League East seven games behind the front running Red Sox. The Rangers were stuck in fourth. Each pitcher excelled over the first three innings. Perry faced one batter over the minimum, with Paul Blair getting picked off after a first-inning single, and Ken Singleton being erased after a Jim Northrup double play. Palmer retired the first nine Rangers. Texas began the scoring when Cesar Tovar, who singled, stole second, and advanced to third on Dave Duncan’s throwing error, was driven in by Jeff Burroughs for an unearned run. The Orioles answered in their fifth with Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson doubling to right and scoring on a Bobby Grich double. The back and forth trading of single runs continued in the Rangers’ sixth, and the Orioles’ seventh, with Baltimore tally scoring on a Robinson single. That was all of the runs for quite some time. From the seventh inning until the twelfth when he departed, Jim Palmer faced 20 batters over six innings. Perry, keeping pace through the Orioles eleventh, gave up no more runs. Ultimately, the game was decided by the heroics of another Hall of Famer. Brooks Robinson, who had already contributed to the first two Oriole runs, drove in the deciding run on a double to center off reliever Steve Foucault in the top of the twelfth and scored the fourth and last run when Elrod Hendricks singled to right. The game ended 4-2, with Palmer going 12 innings and giving up one unearned run, while striking out six. Perry, while giving up 13 hits, went 11 innings giving up two runs and also striking out six. Both pitchers ended up with no decisions.
A paltry crowd of 6,418 fans was sitting in Memorial Stadium for a Friday night game between the Rangers and Orioles on August 27, 1976. Once again, the Orioles were in second place in the East, this time 11.5 games behind the Yankees. The Rangers were mired in fourth, 19 games in back of the division-leading Royals. Perry, looking for win 13, was pitted against Palmer, already at 17 wins on his way to his third Cy Young Award. Al Bumbry scored for the Orioles in the bottom of the first and, for the rest of the game, goose eggs were put on the board, until the bottom of the ninth. Gaylord went eight innings in a complete-game loss, walking one and striking out a season-high 11 batters. Palmer, also in a complete-game performance, went nine innings, walking zero and striking out ten. The 2:36 long contest saw both hurlers at the top of their games for the second time in a row against each other.
The last time Perry would face Palmer as a member of the Rangers came in a nationally televised Game of the Week on Saturday, July 23, 1977. For the third year in a row, the Orioles were in second place, this time just a ½ game behind the Red Sox. Again the Rangers were in fourth, but closer, at eight games behind the White Sox. This game was the pinnacle of the three confrontations between the future Hall of Famers. For nine innings, these legendary hurlers shut out their opposition. Perry, two months shy of his 39th birthday, pitched nine scoreless innings, striking out nine while allowing four hits and three walks. Palmer did even better, going 11 innings striking out nine, and walking zero. The game ended in the thirteenth inning, with Mike Hargrove singling in Bump Wills, who had led off the top of the inning with the only extra-base hit of the game, a double to center.
Again, a no-decision was the result of a hard day’s work for the two starting pitchers.
Two future Hall of Famers, three outstanding matchups. In the three head-to-head duels between Jim Palmer and Gaylord Perry, their stats were: Perry, 28 innings pitched, 24 hits, 5 earned runs, 5 walks and 26 strikeouts his era a dazziling 1.60. Palmer, 32 innings pitched, 19 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks and 25 strikeouts his era a mesmerizing 0,28 Palmer walked ZERO batters over the equivalent of three-and-a-half games.
@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IC0gLSAtIC0gLSAtIC0gIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@
