A few days ago the Dodger family lost Ron Perranoski. And Mark asked about his leaving on bad terms. So I did some research to check on that simply because I could not remember the circumstances of his leaving.
Perry was born on April 1st, 1936 in Patterson, New Jersey. There is not much information on his Wikipedia page, but he grew up in the town of Fair Lawn, N.J. He attended Fair Lawn HS. After HS, he went to Michigan State University. One of his team mates there was Dick Radatz.
Radatz himself became a standout reliever in the majors. Mostly with the Red Sox. In June 1958, Perry signed with the Cubs as an amateur free agent. No draft at that time.
He started his career at Class B Burlington. He went 5-9 with an ERA of 6.43. At the time he was regarded as a starting pitcher making 13 starts in 18 appearances. In 1959, he went to AA San Antonio and was 11-10 with a 3.12 ERA.
On April 8th, 1960, he was traded to the Dodgers with SS John Goryl, and Lee Hanley, a minor leaguer for SS Don Zimmer. Zimmer was available because Maury Wills had taken the SS position over.
In 1960, Perry pitched for 2 teams, Montreal and St. Paul, both Dodger AAA affiliates. He had a combined record of 12-11 with a 2.58 ERA. But he was no longer starting. He was called up to the Dodgers in 1961 and finished with a 7-5 record with 6 saves.
In 1962, he went 6-6 but his saves increased to 19. His ERA for both years was under 3. 1963 was his best season in the majors. A major force out of the pen he went 16-3 with 21 saves and an ERA of 1.67. He was the only reliever who saw any action in the 63 series. Getting the save in Podres game 2 win. All of the other games were complete games by Koufax and Drysdale. Drysdale’s being a 1-0 3 hit gem in game 3.
Over the next 4 seasons he went 23-27 with 54 saves. After the 1967 season he was traded to the Twins with Bob Miller, and Johnny Roseboro for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versailles. In my mind, a bad trade.
1968 was not a good year for him, but in 1969 and 1970 he had a resurgence of sorts and saved 31, and 34 games and had a sub 2.50 ERA both years.
In 1971, he got off to a brutal start with the Twins and was picked up off of waivers by the Tigers. He was released by Detroit the following year in July, and on August 7, 1972, he came back to the Dodgers. He was 2-0 in 9 games, with a 2.70 ERA, but was released after the season.
The Angels picked him up in April of 73. He only pitched in 8 games for the Halo’s and was released after the season. That winter he was named the Dodgers minor league pitching coordinator. He served in that position until 1980. In 1981, He became the Dodgers pitching coach. He helped develop 3 rookies of the year, Sutcliffe, Howe and Valenzuela.
On September 23rd, he was dismissed as pitching coach in favor of Dave Wallace. And now comes the reason Perry was just a little ticked off. This was the strike year. Perry had gone with Lasorda and Claire to Wichita to watch Chan Ho Park, and Darren Dreifort pitch. This happened a few days after the players went on strike. They talked about players who might be added, and how to construct the staff. But nothing was said about his contract not being renewed, so Perry had no idea what was about to happen.
The bone of contention for Perranoski was when he got home from a family outing on the 23rd, he got the news via a telephone message on his machine. He thought there should have been better communication, and maybe even a face to face meet. Claire made the move on his own, with no disapproval from Lasorda. His reason was that he felt Wallace had a better relationship with the young guns coming up since he was the minor league coordinator.
There was a lot of speculation over the reasons for his dismissal. They included, he was not one of Lasorda’s boys, like Russell, and Cresse. He was the scapegoat for Dreifort’s arm problems. Paying the price for Lasorda’s frequency of using Dreifort in the 1993 season.
For his part, Perry never blamed anyone, he just did not care for the way it was handled. Claire said that the team never had so many young pitchers that were ready for the majors and he just felt Wallace could relate to them better. In 9 of his 14 years as pitching coach, the Dodgers were either 1st or 2nd in ERA.
His #16 was given to Hideo Nomo. Perry turned down an offer to coach for the Red Sox, who’s new manager, Kevin Kennedy had Dodger ties. In 95, He was invited to join the Giants by Dusty Baker so Perry joined the Giants as minor league pitching coordinator. He cited his reason as wanting to mentor young pitchers. In 1997, he was promoted to the MLB squad as bench coach. in 98-99 he was their pitching coach. In 2000 he became a special advisor to Brian Sabean.
In 1983, Perry was elected to the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. He lived in Vero Beach Fla.
Discussion (56)
Disagree, not disagreeable
How old do you have to be to be a closer? Steve Howe became the closer at 22. Hader in Milwaukee was 24. Jansen was 24 when he became the main guy. Now, Graterol might be a little raw, but he has the stuff to close. The main thing with a closer is the shut down mentality. I myself honestly believe that McGee could be a shut down guy at some point in these playoffs. We will see how it works out. I just know I am not comfortable with Jansen in back to back games.
I wasn’t suggesting Treinen for a permanent closer, but he might be one, who knows, just reminding David that he might have forgotten to add him to his list.
Did I stop the presses? lol.
Bear, thanks for the article on Perry! He was a closer before they coined the term. Which makes me wonder, how are we going to manage without one in the series against Atlanta? Looking over the position-by-position comparison on the MLB website today, I was struck by the fact that there were only two areas where they are clearly better than we are: DH and relief pitching. Otherwise, we match up very well against them. Assuming that KJ is no longer the go-to option in the 9th inning of a tight game – are you listening, Doc? – who is the alternative? It’s alright to say that the answer is situational, but who would that be? Graterol? Impressive stuff, but not enough seasoning. Gonsolin? Good choice, but then he couldn’t be a starter. Baez? Too risky. McGee? Maybe. Gonzalez? Very promising, but too young.
Curious to know what you all think!
I’m voting no on Bauer based on Buehler, May, Urias, Gonsolin and Gray. No way AF is paying a pitcher in his 30’s and he shouldn’t! We’ve got to write out some big checks for Seager, Belly and Buehler coming up. It will be interesting if AF makes a move for a closer this off season. It’s the most unpredictable move to make. If Graterol develops a better off speed pitch he could be devastating for next few years.
Found this doing some research on what it is that might make Joc and Muncy more Stanton-like. Of course, neither will ever be 6’6”, but they can improve their bodies.
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_2015_06_Baseball_Putnam5.pdf
Let’s see if Machado, Hosmer and Myers can duplicate the year they had this year. They weren’t very good the year before. And Belly and Muncy will be better next year. And I still believe in Lux. Price will be back and May, Gonsolin and Urias will be ready to shine full time. Gray will give us more injury depth.I like our chances next year for number nine. I think the Pads have to sign Bauer to stay with us over the course of 162
I believe that the Padres will be a better team next year. I also believe that no matter what happens the rest of the way that this will not be an idle off season in Dodger land. Friedman will do what he feels best for the Dodgers no matter what the Padres do. He is not going to make counter punch moves. That much is certain as we saw at the deadline. SD got 10 new players. LA got none and we still beat them. Yes, they were not at full strength, but the Rays beat a Yankee team that has been battling injury all year, and no one belittled their win. I think a lot of factors went into Lux not being the player they thought he would be this season. Not showing up immediately at the restart was one. The Covid outbreak has affected everyone. The break between when spring stopped and the restart did not benefit a lot of players. Some over came it, and some did not. Cody, Muncy, and Joc, never got untracked. But I think going into next spring, Lux will still be close to the top of the list as a candidate to be the starting 2nd baseman. I think Kike, and Joc are gone for sure. So Taylor reverts to his role as super sub. I also think Taylor is the starting 2nd baseman the rest of this season, shifting to left when needed. I believe they will find a way to keep Turner, if for no other reason than his impact in the clubhouse and the community. I think Jansen will no longer be the primary closer, and one way or another, trade-free agency, they pick up another arm for that job, Graterol is probably the closer in waiting. But he needs some more seasoning first. Unless something changes, the rosters will go back to 26 next season. So how the bullpen is handled takes on a whole new meaning. I do not think the window is closing on the Dodgers. I think it is for a few players on the Dodgers. Who knows if they extend Kersh beyond next season. And if they do, it will not be for the 31 million a year he is getting now. 2022 could feature a rotation with Buehler, May, Gonsolin, White and Gray. or toss in Urias as the lefty since all of those guys are RH. Not a bad bunch and a good match for anything SD will have. I think the Dodgers future teams will be every bit as competitive as anything anyone in the NL runs out there. I hate to admit it, and I do not always agree with how he does it, but Friedman has the Dodgers set up for success for many years. The pipeline may not be at the top of the NL, but it is still full of some big time prospects.
Great comments all around. I love it. A couple of things. There have been very few players who have come to the Dodgers that I did not like. But there have been a few. Machado was one that at first I thought, wow, they got a true all star and a guy who is going to be a force. That did not happen. Machado was good, but not nearly the player he had been in Baltimore. And he for sure did not look like someone you would trade 5 players for. His BA dropped 40 points, the prodigious power he had in Baltimore did not manifest itself in LA. His K rate increased. Some said it was adjusting to the new league. Bunk. A guy with that much talent and a track record like that should be able to hit where ever he goes. I remember another Manny coming over at the deadline and tearing NL pitching up. I also found it interesting that against the Dodgers main foes, the NL west, he was well below .300 against them all except the Giants. He only hit .200 against Arizona. He hit 5 of his 13 homers against the west, 4 of them off Padres pitching. He never had that signature moment that sticks in the minds of the fans, and they never forget it. On another site we nicknamed him ” The Smirk” for that smug look, which he still has, that was always on his face. And outside of the playoff series with the Brewers, he stunk in the post season. In the series against the Red Sox, he may as well have not even been there. All of his 4 hits were singles. But like Badger, what sealed the deal for me was him trying to spike the Brewers 1st baseman. Just totally wrong. So his antics now are just old hat to me. He is one of the most self centered and selfish players I have ever seen. Tatis on the other hand has a lot of youthful exuberance, and I can live with that. I liked Puig, and I think in his early years a lot of what he did could be based on his immaturity. The talent level was there. We all saw flashes of it. I think he lost direction when Juan Uribe got traded. Uribe and Gonzalez were stabilizing influences. Ramirez was not.
Jason agree with most of the post especially James. I would throw Kerr and popovich in there as well.
As far as the padres they will be awfully good but so will the Dodgers. The Dodgers are proof that you have to be more than good in the playoffs. The former braves with glavine , Smoltz, Maddux were unbeatable until they weren’t. The Dodgers future is bright!
As far as this year I believe Tampa pitching is far superior to the asstros and overall I think Tampa is better. If we win I would rather beat the asstros but if we don’t I would rather lose to Tampa.
Padres are a good team. The team that they field on Opening Day next year is NOT the same team LA just swept. Of course, add Clevenger and Lament but also probably Yates anchoring the bullpen. Tatis is the real deal obviously and will be a transcendent athlete for a decade plus. I would swap him for ANY player in the league outside of Trout, and considering age, I would probably do that one too.
I saw where Bauer seemed to be hinting at a move to SD for next year. If that happens, SD becomes a favorite to win the west in my opinion. Right now they will get a lot of nods over LA.
LA needs to settle the 2nd base position and develop or trade for a front line closer. I know Jansen had another year, but I am not seeing what he has to offer as of now in ANY role at all. 90mph cutter that don’t cut, or make strikes are not a valuable commodity. Some can tout Driveline or whatever but he is just done. Great career but never recovered from 2017, then heart issues, then Covid. Who knows why but the results speak for themselves.
Some want to point at pure stats and that his ERA was as low, or lower that Hader, so therefore he is still and had been good all year. Hader had ONE game that ballooned his ERA. To compare Jansen to Hader is silly. There are maybe 1% of the MLB players that would take an AB against Jansen over Hader with a game on the line. …… if that. In my opinion, complete homer colored glasses there. I watch a lot of games and I can’t think of many times where Jansen has been light out this year, or last. Regardless, of stats, he makes too much traffic on the bases, can’t hold runners, can’t throw consistent strikes, and on and on. It’s over.
As far as 2nd base goes, I am not sure. Lux doesn’t appear to be the player that many thought he could be but who knows. He is still pretty young but when he is touted as what he was and you see the Soto’s, Tatis, etc of the world, its easier to give up on him. Friedman seems to have a good eye for that type of thing, so I trust whatever he does will be a good tract to take. Part of me would like to put CT3 there, and let him play. I love watching him play. I wish his heart could be put into every player on the team. He just hasn’t proven that he can do it in a full time position.
As far as Roberts, I like what he has done outside of the Jansen/Kelly game. I was happy that he didn’t sit in the dugout and watch Jansen give the game away like he normally has, but going to Kelly was such an odd move there. I honestly STILL don’t get it. I know that it worked out, so for many that means it was a good move, but how you can sit there and watch Kelly walk batter after batter and not make a change is maddening to me. Looked exactly like the Nats debacle game last year.
Love me some WIll Smith though and not just because of the 5 hits. He has to be the most unlucky guy that I can remember. He has great swings on balls and doesn’t chase much.
Machado is just a street punk with millions of dollars. Dirty, ends justify the means type of person, selfish. I loved Muncy coming out and tell him to “get the f*ck back in your dugout b*tch”. I predict many fastballs into Mannys ribs over the years. I admit, even guys I am not a fan of for other teams I come to like if they play for LA. Some take longer than others but eventually I come around. Never did with Machado and honestly, I am not sure I ever would. I deal with punk all the time in real life, and he is one.
On a side note, I am not an NBA fan anymore. I was in the 90’s. A huge fan. Can’t do the modern game and its players. I know most of you are LA sports fans but it does surprise me how many of you are LeBron fans reading your stances on MLB players through this blog. My hats off to James as a family man and someone that doesn’t litter the papers with arrests and whatnot but as an athlete and NBA face, zero respect at all from me.
Dodgers have a handful in Atlanta but the Braves have a bigger one in LA I think. Atlanta beat a couple bad playoff teams albeit in impressive fashion. LA beat one bad playoff team and a great team not nearly at full strength. Who knows what any of that means, if anything. I like LA to win the series, especially in the 7 games in 7 days format. LA is too deep all around and has so many effective weapons. However, thats why they play the games.
I would rather play Houston in the WS. To beat them legit yes, but I think they are the easier of the teams to beat as well. Greinke is Greinke which is an above average pitcher at this point but not anything compared to TB top 2 guys. Astros can hit for sure but LA can pitch. I think LA takes out Houston in 5. TB presents many more problems and can’t see that as an easier opponent.
Its a good time to be a Dodgers fan but to think that SD isn’t for real is denial. If LA doesn’t win this year, Machado’s declaration that SD would win a WS before LA could actually come true. LA’s window isn’t closed after this year, or even closing in the near future as some think, but there is definitely another team crowding through that window for sure and LA has more large question marks to change to periods over the next couple seasons than SD does.
Enjoyed your write-up, Bear. Thank you. Perry was one of my favorite pitchers and pitching coaches. Did not like the way he was let go. If true, he deserved more after what he accomplished with the Dodgers.
Congrats to the Tampa Bay Rays. If they can beat the Astros, and we beat the Braves, my and AC’s prediction of a World Series between the Dodgers and Tampa will come true.
If I remember correctly, you used to get credit for a sacrifice fly if a runner advanced after the catch, not only when the runner scored. Still seems like a good idea.
Just a question concerning saves. Saves were not recorded before 1969 so how did Perry show saves prior to then? I did not like the trade with the Twins either.
I remain puzzled about how Doc used May in the SD series. I posted a few days ago (in real time, not in retrospect) that I thought it was a mistake to remove him after only two innings in the first game of the series. I understand the rationale that keeping his outing short (like a bullpen session between starts) would allow him to be used as a starter again later in the series, but I would have left him in there to finish that first win (or get close) in order to lessen the risk of using several more pitchers, one of whom might have a bad outing (as later happened for both teams). LA still had Urias and Gonsolin to use in games 3 and 4.
May did start game 3, but only as an opener and thus his capacity to go multiple innings was negated; Urias carried the bulk of that game. Gonsolin, whom many of us prefer as the third starter over May and Urias, never saw any action in the first two rounds and five full games. This makes the quick hook for May in game 1 all the more puzzling. Sure, LA won regardless, but there are numerous ways this could have backfired. If a game 4 were needed, who would have pitched? I suppose Gonsolin, but a lengthy outing would have essential, as I can’t imagine May and Urias would have been used two days in a row, especially with the possibility of a game 5 too. No one other than Gonsolin could have been expected to have provided more than two innings for game 4 unless Buehler or Kershaw were brought back early.
When I think about the 2017 World Series, of course things now are clouded by knowledge that the Astros cheated, but Doc’s questionable management of the pitching staff remains a major issue. That’s been an issue every year during his run. I hope 2020 will be an exception, but the May usage causes the questions to linger.
Sounds to me like it was a case of “time to move on”. And he did. Who among us haven’t gone through that a time or two?
Nice write-up Bear. Never knew Perry and Radatz were teammates. If we really fired him with a phone message that was pretty low class after all the years he was with us.
Responding to SoCalBum’s comment about the Padres at the end of the last thread, I feel much differently about Tatis than I do about Machado. I respect the talent level they both have but Machado just seems to always come off as surly . Tatis, on the other hand, had some friendly exchanges with both Mookie and Bellinger when they were at second base. Big, broad smiles from all of them. I know some of you probably feel that you should hate the opposition, but I feel that as long as you’re giving 110% trying to beat them you can still be friendly towards them.
I had a real conundrum last night watching the Yanks-Rays game. Couldn’t figure out who I wanted us to wind up playing in the WS. The team I would most want to beat is the Astros, but it would be a really tough winter if we played them and lost to them again. The Yanks have always been a true rival so there again it would be great to beat them but tough losing to them. I’m actually a Rays fan and I appreciate how they play and how they’ve put their team together but I’d rather beat the other two teams. I’ve decided to just sit back and let it play out. I’ll have to deal with my emotions, good or bad, when that happens.