Hall of Fame hurler Gaylord Perry enjoyed an outstanding 21-year career during which he was one of the most durable and successful starters in all of baseball. The five-time All-Star was the first to win the Cy Young in each league – first with the Indians in 1972 and later as a Padre in ’78 at the age of 40, making him the oldest to win the award (a record that lasted 26 years). A member of the elite 300-Win Club, Perry used his craftiness, creativity, and gamesmanship – often employing his notorious spitball – to mess with opposing batters and keep them off-balance. He retired in 1983 with a 3.11 lifetime ERA and 3,534 career strikeouts, earning his Cooperstown enshrinement in 1991.
Perry began his MLB career with the San Francisco Giants in 1962, and offered here is his game worn home jersey from his debut season. The white flannel button-up shirt has "GIANTS" in a gothic style font across the chest and a block number "22" on the reverse, each all-original to the shirt and sewn on in black felt outlined in orange. Black and orange piping adorns the collar and sleeve cuffs, while the shirttail tagging features a "Wilson 42" label and a white felt swatch with "1962" chain-stitched in black. Perry has autographed the interior collar in blue felt pen. The jersey displays moderate wear as Perry only pitched in four home games wearing No. 22 as a 23-year-old rook.
We submitted this important piece for a photo-match to Sports Investors Authentication, who claims the shirt “very closely aligns with the jersey [he] wore on April 30, 1962” vs. Pittsburgh at Candlestick Park. That day, Perry recorded his second career win and first complete game in a 4-1 Giants victory. See the post-game clubhouse image of Perry with Mays and Cepeda (Getty 515025862) for this possible photo-match. SIA paperwork points out five matching attributes as confidence that this very well could be the same jersey.
On June 10, Perry was sent down to the minors for three months. He returned to the big leagues September 10th. No other Giant wore number "22" in 1962, meaning this jersey had to be young Gaylord's rookie jersey. SIA also makes note of several inches of extra length added to the body of the shirt to accommodate Perry’s 6-4 frame, which is also noticeable in the referenced Getty image. One alteration is the missing name swatch inside the collar (where Perry has signed). SIA provides a logical explanation for this due to Perry’s mid-season demotion to the minors and recall to the majors for the end of the regular season. He finished his debut season with a 3-1 record and 5.23 ERA in seven starts – not enough to earn a ’62 World Series roster spot as the Yanks prevailed over the Giants.
Includes full LOAs from Sports Investors and Beckett (auto.).