Top 50 Individual Seasons
№20 — RHP Gaylord Perry was Padres’ second Cy Young Award winner in 1978
By Bill Center
Hall of Fame right-hander Gaylord Perry’s time with the Padres was relatively brief.
Perry was acquired from Texas before the start of the 1978 season and returned to the Rangers in February of 1980.
But his time with the Padres produced several milestones.
Two years after Randy Jones became the first Padre to win the National League Cy Young Award, Perry became the second. And the 40-year-old Perry became the first pitcher to win the award in both leagues.
Perry, who was long suspected of doctoring his pitches, went 21–6 with the Padres in 1978 with a 2.73 earned run average in 37 starts. He had a 1.178 WHIP and a .248 opponents’ batting average.
He led the National League in wins and winning percentage (.778) and finished second in starts and sixth in ERA. In addition to winning the Cy Young Award, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Perry finished eighth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
His winning percentage is tied for the Padres’ single-season record and his 21 wins rank second only to Jones’ 21 wins in 1976. His starts were tied for the third-highest total in franchise history and his innings were the sixth-highest total ever by a Padre while his ERA was the ninth-best mark.
Perry received 22 of 24 first-place in the Cy Young Award voting with Burt Hooton of the Dodgers — who is now the pitching coach for the Padres’ Single-A affiliate in Fort Wayne, Ind. — finishing a distant second.
Perry had excellent numbers at home and during the second half of his first of two seasons with the Padres. He was also named the National League Pitcher of the Month for the last month of the season, going 6–0 with a 1.32 ERA, a 0.841 WHIP and a .200 opponents’ batting average in seven starts.
Perry was 11–2 with a 1.75 ERA, a 1.129 WHIP and a .247 opponents’ batting average at home during the 1978 season. In the second half, he went 12–2 with a 2.36 ERA, a 1.088 WHIP and a .236 opponents’ batting average.
The Padres acquired Perry from the Texas Rangers on Jan. 25, 1978, for pitcher Dave Tomlin and cash. Perry was traded back to the Rangers on Feb. 15, 1980, along with outfielder-infielder Tucker Ashford, for outfielder Willie Montanez.
In his two seasons with the Padres, Perry went 33–17 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.214 WHIP in 69 starts. In 1979, he pitched 10 complete games among his 32 starts at the age of 40.
Perry won 42 more games in four seasons after leaving the Padres before retiring at the age of 45.
___________________________________________________________________
Top 50 Individual Seasons:
20. RHP Gaylord Perry (1978)
21. 3B Chase Headley (2012)
22. 3B Phil Nevin (2001)
23. RHP Trevor Hoffman (1996)
24. CF Steve Finley (1996)
25. 1B Ryan Klesko (2001)
26. RHP Jake Peavy (2004)
27. LHP Mark Davis (1989)
28. C Benito Santiago (1987)
29. RHP Andy Ashby (1998)
30. 1B Ryan Klesko (2002)
31. RF Tony Gwynn (1989)
32. 1B Fred McGriff (1992)
33. RHP Jake Peavy (2005)
34. LHP Bruce Hurst (1989)
35. RHP Trevor Hoffman (2006)
36. 1B-C Gene Tenace (1979)
37. CF Kevin McReynolds (1984)
38. LHP Dave Roberts (1971)
39. RHP Clay Kirby (1972)
40. 1B Adrian Gonzalez (2010)
41. 1B Phil Nevin (2004)
42. RF Tony Gwynn (1995)
43. RF Dave Winfield (1978)
44. 2B Alan Wiggins (1984)
45. RHP Andy Hawkins (1985)
46. INF-OF Bip Roberts (1990)
47. RHP Heath Bell (2010)
48. RHP Trevor Hoffman (1999)
49. RF Brian Giles (2005)
50. 2B Mark Loretta (2003)
