Between the Lines

Gaylord Perry on: Bonds HR Chase; HOF in Sosa’s future?; The Future for Jason Schmidt

LR:

What are your thoughts on Barry Bonds and the inevitable fact that he’ll break Hank Aaron’s homerun record?

G:

Well, I think he’s going to break it but it might take a little longer than he would hope because the pitchers are really pitching him tough now. And if the first base is open they’ll probably walk him.

He had a pretty good swing earlier in April, in May it kind of left him a little bit but I think he’s getting it back. You know, he could hit three or four homeruns in a week and reach the record pretty quick.

LR:

What about the media hype Bonds vs. Aaron?

G:

If somebody is breaking your record that you’ve had for years, I don’t believe you want to go and shake his hand and tell him congratulations. It’s a record that you’ve worked hard for and you want it to remain.  There is controversy about how Barry’s going to get the record but every time he’s been tested he’s been innocent so you have to believe he really is innocent.

I’m pulling for Barry; I played with his daddy. His dad was one of my best friends. I knew Barry when he was a kid growing up in San Francisco.

LR:

What kind of guy is Barry?

G:

Some days he’s real moody and he wouldn’t even shake your hand, but the next day he’ll give you a hug around the neck. Earlier this year I was out there and he gave me the old dead fish handshake – he probably had something on his mind – and the next month I was out there and he gave me a big hug like I was a long-lost cousin. He’s been a decent guy to me, so I’ve got no complaints. I’m sure he’s being pulled in many ways with being asked to do so many things. I think he just wants to play ball and get it over with and be with his friends and family afterwards.

LR:

Do you think Hank Aaron holds any grudge? Does Bonds breaking his record make him irrelevant?

G:

When anybody’s going for a record that has been up there so long, like Rose going for DiMaggio’s 56th consecutive hit streak [Rose reached 44 games with a consecutive hit] everybody didn’t like Rose because they loved DiMaggio.  So when Roger Maris hit 61 homeruns and broke Babe Ruth’s record [60, set in 1927], everybody hated Roger.  However, Roger is one of the nicest, family men that you’ll ever find. He was just doing a job and trying to do it to the best of his ability. And when Aaron broke Ruth’s record of 715, so many people didn’t like him because he was breaking a record.  Barry is just getting some of the same stuff that Aaron got, that Roger Maris got, that Rose got. Fans just don’t want records to be broken.

LR:

It’s like you are going against history.

G:

Yeah, exactly. But Barry’s been a very pleasant guy to me and like I said, his dad was one of my best friends, he played right field with me, and so I’ve known Barry since he was a kid.  He comes from a great athletic family. His mother was a great athlete, and his dad was and he’s got some brothers who are also very good athletes. And if things go as people have talked about, and I think they’re right, Alex Rodriguez will probably break Bond’s record. And you know they don’t like Rodriguez right now [chuckles] and that’s because he is doing so well and people sometimes are a little jealous of him. Rodriguez hasn’t done anything to anybody but play ball hard. He might just be one of the guys that wants to stay to himself.

LR:

Is Sammy Sosa a Hall of Fame Baseball Player?

G:

Oh yeah, I would say so. 600 homeruns. He used a corked bat and that’s always going to follow him. I know a lot of people who used corked bats.  I know that I would hand them to teammates when I was pitching.  I’d say here, this one will hit it further. 

LR:

So you believe that Sosa’s playing ability is worthy of the Hall of Fame?

G:

Yeah, he’s hit 6 plus homeruns a season several times, so yeah. He might not get in on the first, second or third ballot, but he’ll get there. You take McGuire. Now, McGuire only has a little over 1,000 hits. He doesn’t have the numbers to get in there now. I think Sosa probably has over 2000 hits, and when you talk about Hall of Farmers, you look at the numbers. You have to look at the wins for a pitcher; you know, you can get some pitchers in there who’ve only has 200/250 win but they did it in 10 years. But you have some of us who played 20 years or better who got 300. It goes by the numbers. You take Gibson, he didn’t win 300, but boy he had some pretty good years there, didn’t he? Don’t forget Jim Bunning who won 100 games in each league.  It took a long time for him to get in there. But you got some guys who are just waiting in line and as soon as they retire, in five years, that’s it, they’ll be in.

LR:

Jason Schmidt with the Dodgers. I believe he signed as a free agent, $47 million on a three year contract, and now he has a season-ending shoulder surgery. What does that do to his mind? I mean, if he’s going to come back does he have a long fight ahead?

G:

Well, back when I played you were very, very concerned about it because you didn’t have a guaranteed contract. They could release you and that was it. Sometimes, you could negotiate and hope you get paid through the season, but you didn’t have a contract for the next year.

When I went for my 300th win, O’Brien [Seattle general manager] said come on down to Spring Break training and see if you make the club.  I got there, made the club opening day pitcher, but my contract got renewed every thirty days. And this was in ’82. Schmidt has a guaranteed contract, he’s going to get his money - that’s the risk you take. But I think he’ll work hard enough, he’ll be back in by the middle of next year, and maybe he’s able to overcome this surgery and go on to have a great career.  As a pitcher, that’s what I hope for him. It’s a big risk!

LR:

So, back in 1982, when got the 300th win, you were basically a month-to-month pitcher?

G:

That’s right. And the next year, they gave me a guaranteed contract.

Q&A WITH GAYLORD PERRY

LR:

Jake Peavy has a 1.68 ERA in 12 starts and is second in the major leagues in strikeouts with 92.  Teams are hitting .202 against him with a low slugging percentage of .247.  What is the key to Peavy’s success this season?

G:

He’s got control and it looks like he has studied the opposing hitters and knows what they can and cannot hit and what the best possibility is for getting them out. His breaking balls and off-speed pitches are in good locations and that is so important. I saw Riviera pitch the other night against Boston and the catcher was demanding him to throw the ball at certain spots and he hit like nine out of 10 of them and he got a save, so it looks like he was getting back on track.  Peavy is doing the same thing; he is hitting the right targets at the right time.

LR:

Do you believe Peavy’s control is unusual for his age?

G:

Control is what they try to teach you – even in the minor leagues. And he’s just caught onto that much faster than most people. It looks like to me he has worked at it a great deal. I know when I was pitching I used to work on control in the bull pen before I got to the mound and I am sure he is constantly working at improving himself.

LR:

Bud Black [San Diego Padres Manager] compares Peavy to Don Drysdale with his three quarter motion and the horizon from which he is able to throw the ball. Do you see that similarity?

G:

I think Drysdale was a little meaner and little more aggressive but you could be more aggressive back when Drysdale pitched. I know I came up once against Drysdale and I was a big fan of his and I learned a great deal by watching him and Gibson pitch. I am sure Peavy’s got a lot of capabilities that Drysdale has and that is why he is doing so well.

LR:

You mentioned something interesting about Drysdale’s pitching and how pitchers were able to be more aggressive during Drysdale’s time. How has the game changed in that sense?

G:

Teams have so much more money invested in a player that you cannot afford to have some mean guy from the other team hitting him in the wrist and breaking it or hitting him in the head. Tony Conigliaro from Boston was hit in the eye and his career ended. The rule committee has been forced to provide more protection to hitters.  I remember when we didn’t have helmets.  When we got an ear flaps everyone really thought that was a sissy thing to do. Of course, as time when by we all realized these were good steps.  A player can get hurt in so many different ways. The other night the Yankee first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz  got run over and the initial report was that he’ll probably be out the rest of the year.

Safety measures are there to protect a teams investment and I can understand why but they also have to realize that a pitcher’s ERA is not going to be 2 or less like Gibson --- mine was under 2 one year – but it’s going to be 4 or above. An ERA of 3.50 is going to be a real good one now.

LR:

As more and more safety measures are put into place, what adjustments does this force a pitcher to make?

G:

Well, he can’t afford to make mistakes throwing the ball down the middle. A pitcher who throws the ball down the middle 95 miles an hour and if it’s straight, the hitter is going to hit it. But if you got one going 88 to 92 and it’s moving and on the corner, you got a pretty good chance of having a great game. This is what most of the pitchers are learning now that they need control, they need a catcher who will work with them and provide a target, and don’t let them make a mistake. I’ve seen a lot of mistakes this year – with no balls and two strikes. You know Boston got beat the other day when Rodriguez hit an 0 and 2 pitch out of the ball park. A coach talks to these young pitchers and tells them not to make these mistakes because they’ve seen the situation before and know what the consequences are. Coaches try to teach pitchers early and, in Peavy’s case, someone got to him and has done a great job teaching him control.

LR: Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinella was ejected and received a four game suspension. Bobby Cox is getting a lot of attention this year for tying the record for being tossed out during a game. Is the media exposure that these types of incidents generate good or bad for baseball or does it really matter?

G: Yeah, Lou went a little nuts! [chuckles]

That’s OK. Lou got a little excited and his club is not doing well.  I‘ve watched Lou manage championship clubs when he was in Seattle and he threw a lot of fits while managing down there in Tampa Bay because they weren’t playing good. He expects the Cubs to do a lot better this year, all the fans and the front office expect better as well and they are not getting it done; and Lou is coming in on the hot seat so he’s trying to do some things to shake his players up to get them to do better because they’re just not catching the ball, they’re not running the bases like they should. They’re not doing the regular baseball things that Lou Pinella knew when he was a kid. They’re just not doing it yet. But it’s not over for Lou yet.  He’ll get that club to perform on the field.

LR:

What about the call that Pinella was tossed over?

G: Well, you know when I was playing in the 60s and 70s, and even up to ‘83 when I retired, you could argue with the umpire and if you didn’t talk about his mother or his family you didn’t get thrown out. A manager could argue his point. But now they don’t give you a chance. Umpires are quick to eject in today’s game and sometimes a manager needs to get out of there to persuade the umpire – say ‘hey we were looking and we think you are missing these plays’ – and sometimes if you have a player who thinks the umpire is sticking it to him, you got to take up for him and if you don’t you will lose the player’s confidence. So a manager is in a tough situation. Bobby Cox - I’ve never seen him throw fits like Lou Pinella. I played for Bobby one year and he’s a great manager; if you can’t play for Bobby Cox you can’t play for anybody. He’s a great guy so he takes up for his players and sometimes he gets thrown out when his team is not doing well.  He tries to provide a spark for his team.