He was the subject of two decades of controversy during which opposing managers, umpires and league officials frequently attempted to catch him in a violation, even revising rules and guidelines; despite the constant scrutiny, he was not ejected from a game for the practice until his 21st season in the majors in 1982.

During a 22-year career, with most of its second half spent with losing teams, Perry compiled 314 wins; upon his retirement, he ranked third in major league history with 3,534 strikeouts and his 690 games started placing him behind only Cy Young's 815.

Perry was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 in his third year of eligibility, a delay widely regarded as resulting from his career-long controversies.

Perry was born in Williamston, North Carolina, and named after a close friend of his father's, who had died while having his teeth pulled.

Gaylord grew up with his older brother Jim and younger sister Carolyn in Williamston and the small area of Farmlife, a populated place located within the Township of Griffins, a minor division of Martin County.

In 1955 Williamston High won the North Carolina Class A state tournament, as the Perry brothers threw back-to-back shutouts to sweep the best-of-three finals.

Perry had a reputation throughout his career for doctoring baseballs, and was inspected on the mound by umpires and monitored closely by opposing teams.

[8][9] Perry reportedly approached the makers of Vaseline about endorsing the product and was allegedly rebuffed with a one-line postcard reading, "We soothe babies' backsides, not baseballs."

Former manager Gene Mauch famously quipped "He should be in the Hall of Fame with a tube of K-Y Jelly attached to his plaque.

"[10] Gene Tenace, who caught Gaylord Perry when they played for the San Diego Padres, said: "I can remember a couple of occasions when I couldn't throw the ball back to him because it was so greasy that it slipped out of my hands.

Cloud Rox team in the Class A level Northern League, compiling a 9–5 record and a 2.39 earned run average (ERA) in 17 games (15 starts).

He remained with the franchise as they became the Rio Grande Valley Giants in the 1960 season, and he finished with a 9–13 record and an improved ERA of 2.82 in 32 games (23 starts).

[19] Perry was promoted back to the Giants in September,[20] but was not on the roster for the team's World Series appearance; it would be the only time in his career that he pitched for a pennant winner.

[17][21] Perry had similar numbers in 1968: he posted a 16–15 record, but with a then-career-best 2.45 ERA in 39 games (38 starts),[17] helping the Giants to a second-place finish behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

[22] On September 17 of that year, two days after his 30th birthday, Perry threw a 1–0 no-hitter against the Cardinals and Bob Gibson at Candlestick Park.

The next day, Ray Washburn of the Cardinals no-hit the Giants, winning 2–0, and marking the first time in major league history that back-to-back no-hitters had been pitched in the same series.

"[23] There are other variants on the story, but either way, on July 20, 1969, just an hour after the Apollo 11 spacecraft carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon, Perry hit the first home run of his career.

[33] Perry showed Sudyk how he threw spitballs with substances like Vaseline and K-Y Jelly, and a "puffball" using rosin dust.

[34][35] During spring training, the Indians acquired Perry's brother Jim from the Tigers as part of a three-team trade including the Yankees.

Perry won 21 games in 1974, and was Cleveland's last 20-game winner until Cliff Lee in 2008;[38] his brother added 17 wins, with the pair accounting for half of the team's 77 victories.

Perry again won 15 games, this time against only 12 defeats, in a rotation that included Doyle Alexander, Bert Blyleven, and Dock Ellis.

[17][44] In 1979, Perry posted a 12–11 record and a 3.05 ERA in 32 starts before quitting the team on September 5, saying he would retire unless the club traded him back to Texas.

[17][45] The Padres traded Perry to the Texas Rangers on February 15, 1980, with minor leaguers Tucker Ashford and Joe Carroll for first baseman Willie Montañez.

[46] In 1980, Perry posted a 6–9 record and 3.43 ERA in 24 starts with Texas before being traded to the Yankees on August 13, 1980, for minor leaguers Ken Clay and a player to be named later (Marvin Thompson).

[49] During the strike-shortened 1981 season, Perry, the oldest player at the time in Major League baseball, started 23 games (150+2⁄3 innings) and had an 8–9 record with a 3.94 ERA.

[7] After being released by the Braves, Perry was unable to find interest from any clubs during the offseason, and missed his first spring training in 23 years.

[11] After starting the 1983 season 3–10, Perry was designated for assignment by Seattle on June 26 and the Kansas City Royals picked him on a waiver claim ten days later.

[54] In the final months of the season, Perry experimented with a submarine delivery for the first time in his career and took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the first-place Baltimore Orioles on August 19.

The game originally ended when the umpires called George Brett out for too much pine tar on his bat, negating his home run and drawing a vehement protest from him and the Royals.

[27][8] Perry retired to his 500-acre (2.0-square-kilometer) farm in Martin County, North Carolina, where he grew tobacco and peanuts, but had to file for bankruptcy in 1986.