European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday december 9,1988 the stars and stripes. Page 23 commentary cheating robs Perry of hop vote sometimes the names on the Hall of Fame ballot jump out at you. Demanding an instant Checkner Lola Cir names. Sometimes they jump out at you hut the Check in t so instant. Carl yawl Ramski had 452 Home runs 3.419 hit Sand 1.r44 runs batted in. That s an instant Check. Johnny Bench had 389 Home runs 1,376 Bis and defined his defensive position for a generation. Another in slant Check. Jim Hunning won 100 games in each league pitched a no Hitler in each league and missed Mak ing in by four Voles last year when nine Blank ballots were cast disrupting the number required for elec Tion. Give the Man his instant Check. Then we come 10 Gaylord Perry who and his 3,000-plus hits arrives Tor consideration with one of the credentials that usually guarantee automatic admission. He won 314 game Sand struck Oul 3.53- batters in 22 seasons Formida ble numbers indeed. Only 14 pitchers won More games. Only four struck oui More batters. Under Ordinary circumstances you put a Check nem to Perry a name on the ballot and move on toothed candidates. But these arc not Ordinary Circum stances. Thai s because Perry cheated. Starting he a said in 1964 when he decided he needed a Timile something Emra to survive Perry Doc lord baseballs. For a Long time he played a and mouse with batters keeping them guessing As he fidgeted on the Mound Between pitches like a Man with a nervous condition. What was he up to out there Why did he keep tugging us his Cap that Way and How come the Ball did such unnatural things when he finally got around to throwing ill. Reggie Jackson was so upset at Perry s act one Well travelled Gaylord Perry tosses Adit one last year Lime that he lugged a bucket of water out of the dugout in protest. If you re going to Load in up. Reg Gie was saying Here s a game Long Supply of Imiru Nilion. Jackson got thrown out for carrying on thai Way. Perry however kept right on pitching. Eventually he confessed. Yup Perry said lie broke the rules. So what. So maybe he does t go in the Hall of Fame. So maybe you Don t celebrate his Misdemeanour with that ultimate tribute at Leas not right away. Ordinarily there is no abiding reason nut to Vole for a Hall of Famor in his first year of eligibility. Candidate either qualifies or he does t. His credentials will not change. If they arc Good enough for election they arc Good enough As soon As he is Eligi Perry s Case though thai May not be so. Maybe he ought to be made to Wail on the Doorstep for a while. Let him think about just How he achieved those credentials. Now Don t misunderstand. Coop Lown is full of pitchers who did funny stuff. Whitey Ford was a devoted husband hut thai was t Why he wore his wedding ring to the Mound. Scuffed baseballs you see also do acrobatics on their Way to the plate. People cheat. If they did to there would t be 2-t colleges and universities currently operating under Mcaa sanctions. Gel Coughl cheating and you pay the Price. Sanctioned colleges and universities Don t go to a bowl game or to the basketball tournament for a while. You Reform and then you can gel Back in the Good graces of the authorities. There is in evidence that Perry Ever reformed. In fact Laic in his career he began refining his attack on the rules using resin As an additional weapon to launch what he called his putt Pilch. He never re sorted to a Hammer and chisel but there is ionic suspicion that had he figured out a Way to conceal those tools they would have been in his Arsenal Loo. Hall of Fame rules require that candidates he judged on More than playing ability. Among the Cri Teria listed arc integrity sportsmanship and Chanc Ier. Nowhere docs in say anything about considering How Well you conceal a foreign substance and apply it baseball without getting caught. Come Back next year Gaylord and Well walkabout your Check Mark then. Tip att coated a Best trades Are often those that fell through new York a at the Winter meetings some Trade talk leads to action some just leads to sometimes that talk Speaks louder than action. For. Every completed Deal like Eddie Murray to the los Angeles Dodg ers there s a rumoured Trade that at tracts just As much or More attention like Dale Murphy to the new York mets. Baseball has always been that Way. The Sale of babe Ruth to the new York Yankees made headlines but so did the proposed Swap of Joe Dimaggio for Ted Williams. It would be hard to imagine dimag Gio playing for the Boston red sox and Williams playing with the Yankees but in the late 1940s the two teams seriously considered the Deal. Their general managers reasoned that the right handed Dimaggio would thrive Balling in Fenway Park with the Green monster in left Field just 315. Feel away and Williams a icily would surely break records facing Yankee stadium s Short right Field Fence. Bui Williams was a personal favorite of Boston owner Tom Yawkey and the Deal was never allowed to take place. Brooklyn dodgers fans will never for get the attempted Trade Robin son to inc hated new York giants. ". After the 1956 season Robinson is oth with the dodgers the team decided to ship him to the giant in Exchange for Pitcher Dick arid a reported 130,000. But Robinson outraged at the Deal promptly announced his retire Mcnol. Owner Charlie Finley had put together the great Oakland athletics teams that would win the world series from 1972 74, but in the Winter of 1975, an arbitrator ruled hat baseball s Reserve clause which bound a player to his team for life was illegal and that anyone finishing his contract could become a free agent. Finley had been notorious for paying Low salaries and stars like Reggie Jack son Vida Blue and Rollic fingers made it Clear they would lest the free agent Market. Faced with losing his top Plairs Fin Ley decided to act. On inc eve of Floc june 15 trading deadline in 1976, the owner sold Blue to the Yankees for is. 5 million and fingers and Joe Rudi to the red sox for s i million each. Bui commissioner ,. Bowie. Kuhn voided the sales slating that it was not in inc Best interest of baseball for Fin Ley to dismantle his team. All three play ers ended up leaving the a s As free agents. "1 was going to Lake thai Money and use ii to build the team Back up again Finley recalled bitterly. Instead 1 ended up wit ,. Post War Trade of cd Williams left for Joe i Mamrio was seriously cans duri some trades fell through quietly but those involved still remember in the Winter of 1976, the Yankee were seeking help for their pitching staff and approached the expansion Toronto Blue jays about Veteran Bill Singer a two Lime 10-game Winner. Pier Bavasi then Toronto s presi Dent remembered the team s general manager telling him about the Deal. Pal Gillick came to me and said in Yankees were offering a Young left hand or for Bill Singer. Singer was a hard thrower and had fan identification. And Mold pal we could t Trade an established Pitcher for a Rookie particularly since we were an expansion team. In turned out the Pitcher the Yankees were offering was Ron oui dry Guidry went on to win 16 games in 1977 and 25 in 1978 leading the Yan Kees to consecutive world series titles. Singer finished 2-8 with a 6,75 earned run average in 1977 and never pitched in the majors again. Lia Vasi was appropriately Humble after thai i told pal to do whatever he Perry Gaylord s older brother led inc Minnesota twins to division lilies in 1969 and 1970, winning 44 games Over the two years and being named the american league s by Young award Winner in 1970, but Back in 1964. Minnesota owne Calvin Griffith was looking to unload Perry and approached the mets hoping for a Deal. "1 tried to Trade him and the mels would t Lake him Griffith said we would have taken any kind of ballplayer we were looking for younger players. After a while 1 said hell i la keep the son qua Buck " Griffith attempted another Deal wit the mels in the mid-6qs but ran into unexpected difficulty with owner Joan pay son. "1 tried for Ron Hunt said Griffith referring to the mels second baseman. I offered Earl Batley and Crnic Allen but George Weiss inc general manager said in could t do thai be cause Ron Hunt was a Favorito of mrs Payson and he would lose the Job if he made the Deal.". .
