CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Gaylord Perry, the right-handed pitcher who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, was recently announced as one of three new members of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.

Perry will be inducted this summer along with, posthumously, Jack Graney and Jimmy Warfield.
Graney was an Indians outfielder for his entire major league career (1908, 1910-22). He was an Indians play-by-play radio announcer from 1933-53 (also working televised games in 1950), becoming the first ex-major leaguer to work as a big league games announcer.

Warfield became a trainer in the Cleveland organization in 1965. He was the Indians' head trainer from 1971-96 and their assistant trainer from 1997 until his death in 2002.

Perry pitched 3 1/2 seasons for the Indians. He was already 33, and had compiled all of his 134 big league wins for San Francisco when Cleveland traded remarkably talented but unpredictable left-handed starter Sam McDowell to the Giants for Perry and shortstop Frank Duffy on Nov. 29, 1971.
Perry then fashioned a season that, arguably, has not been matched by any Tribe starting hurler since -- though some might make a case for the seasons by Bert Blyleven in 1984; CC Sabathia in 2007; or Cliff Lee in 2008.

The 1972 season was delayed by a players strike, and didn't begin until April 15. Teams missed six to nine games that were never made up. The Indians played 156 games instead of the customary 162.
Perry, famed, and yes, controversial, for allegedly throwing a spitball that umpires never caught him doing, was 2-2 with one save and a 2.51 ERA after his first four starts and his lone relief appearance of the 1972 season. Then, he won his next six starts with a 1.17 ERA, six complete games and two shutouts during the stretch. In 53 2/3 innings, he allowed just 29 hits, 11 walks and no home runs.
On Baseball-Reference.com is the game-by-game breakdown of Perry's 1972 season, linking to the play-by-play of every game.

Perry won the Cy Young Award, finishing 24-16 with the one save and a 1.92 ERA. The Indians went 72-84 that season, meaning they were 48-68 in the games not started by Perry.
A further look into Perry's season reveals how remarkable it was. He got the win or the loss in all 40 of his starts. The woeful Indians offense managed to score a total of just 20 runs in his 16 losses. His 341 2/3 innings pitched as a starter (not counting the one inning in relief) meant that he averaged more than 8 1/2 innings per start. It would have been closer to nine, but in several losses on the road, the opponent didn't bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Perry led the American League in wins and complete games (29). His ERA was second to former Indian Luis Tiant, whose 1.91 edged Perry by the slimmest of margins, and who pitched 163 fewer innings than the Indians ace.

In his 342 2/3 innings, Perry allowed just 253 hits and 17 homers. He walked just 82, and 16 of those were intentional. Some pitchers give in a little after a teammate's error. Not Perry. He allowed just six unearned runs -- one per every 57 innings.

Perry pitched three full seasons for the Indians (1972-74), finishing first, seventh and fourth, respectively, in the Cy Young Award voting. He was 64-48 with 86 complete games in those three campaigns.

Perry and another tough, head-strong Hall of Famer, Frank Robinson, never quite hit it off -- in part because they had been such intense rivals as players in the National League: Perry, the pitcher who considered the inside part of the plate his, and Robby, the hitter who wouldn't be intimidated by the hard stuff thrown in on him.

Robinson was hired by the Indians as their manager, and in fact, the first African-American manager in major league history, prior to the 1975 season.

The Indians were 23-32 on June 13, and Perry had been so-so, with a 6-9 record and 3.55 ERA. That day, Cleveland traded him to the Texas Rangers for right-handed pitchers Jim Bibby and Jackie Brown and left-hander Rick Waits. The Rangers also gave the perpetually cash-strapped Indians $100,000.

By then, Perry had won 204 games, but at age 36, some thought he might be about finished. Not so. Perry won 110 more games, and at age 39 in 1978 with the San Diego Padres, he won another Cy Young Award, going 21-6 with a 2.73 ERA.

Perry, now 73, is 17th on the all-time wins list with 314. His 5,350 innings pitched are the sixth-most ever, and his 3,534 strikeouts rank eighth all-time.

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