Baseball Legends: Gaylord Perry (Giants 1962-1971, Indians 1972-1975, Rangers 1975-1977, 1980, Padres 1978-1979, Yankees 1980, Braves 1981, Mariners 1982-1983, Royals 1983)

“He should be in the Hall of Fame with a tube of KY Jelly attached to his plaque.” ~ Gene Mauch

Bob Gibson will forever be remembered for his 1968 season. Nolan Ryan for his seven no-hitters and 5000 strikeouts. Don Larsen for his perfect game in the World Series. And Gaylord Perry for his spitball.

The stories about Perry’s doctored pitch abound, even from former teammates. Catcher Gene Tenace 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. I just walked out to the mound and flipped the ball back to him.” Despite the anecdotal evidence, he was not ejected from a game for doctoring the ball until 1982, near the end of his career. For that incident, he was suspended for ten games.

Baseball Legends: Mickey Mantle (Yankees 1951-1968)

“Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.’” – Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle (“The Mick”) is one of the most well known players to play the game. The card to the left might be one of the most well known cards other than the famous Honus Wagner T-206 card. He was an impact player on the Yankees almost from day one. He did not play well in his first stint in the majors. He thought that he played so badly that he actually called his dad to give him a ride home. His dad talked him into sticking it out, and we all benefited from that decision.

Baseball Legends: Wade Boggs (Red Sox 1982-1992, Yankees 1993-1997, Devil Rays 1998-1999)

The 1980s were a special time in baseball history. Pete Rose, nearing the end of his career, broke Ty Cobb’s record for most hits in 1985. Just a few years prior, in 1982, two other players started careers that would see them reach the 3000-hit milestone: Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs.

Like Rose, Boggs faced off-field problems during his career (though of a different nature than Rose). However, his play was apparently never affected by those difficulties. Only three times in 18 seasons did Boggs bat lower than .300, contrasted with five seasons over .350 between 1983 and 1988. His career batting average was .328, good for 36th on the all-time list. His 3000th hit was a home run, coming in his final season with the Rays.

Baseball Legends: Yogi Berra (Yankees 1946-1963, Mets 1965)

“90% of the game is mental, the other half is physical” – Yogi Berra

If you don’t know who Yogi Berra is, then you don’t know baseball. He is one of the most well known athletes of his time. His record speaks for itself. He won the AL MVP award three times (1951, 1954, 1955). He finished fourth or higher in the balloting every year from 1950-1957, and received votes on the ballot for 15 straight years. He was an All-Star from 1949-1962. His teams won 14 AL Pennants, and 10 World Series with him behind the plate. He was the anchor of one of the best dynasties ever in baseball. He played for 20 years, and made it to the World Series 14 times. He played in 75 World Series games in his career. That is just amazing. How many other players can state that they won the World Series half of the years that they played the game?

Baseball Legends: Stanley Coveleski (A’s 1912, Indians 1916-1924, Senators 1925-1927, Yankees 1928)

I chose Stanley Coveleski for a couple of reasons. The first is the fact that he is Polish. As a Polish-American I can relate to him. I even know what it is like to have your name misspelled. On the card to the left you can see the misspelling. One reason for the misspelling is the fact that he changed his name. He was born Stanislaus Kowalewski.

The second reason that I chose to write about him is that our local minor league team the South Bend Silverhawks named their stadium after him. He moved to the area after his playing days were over, and made such an impact that they name Coveleski Stadium in his honor.

Baseball Legends: Reggie Jackson (A’s 1967-1975, 1987, Orioles 1976, Yankees 1977-1981, Angels 1982-1986)

Reggie Jackson hit 563 regular season home runs in his career, but it is post-season round trippers for which “Mr. October” is most remembered. Five of those came in the 1977 World Series when the Yankees faced the Dodgers, including three in Game 6, giving New York the Championship. Jackson had already established himself as a star in Oakland, winning the MVP award in 1973 while leading the AL in homers, RBI, slugging, and OPS.

In his career, Jackson finished in the top 10 MVP voting six times (excluding his 1973 win), and was voted to start 10 All-Star games. He was also selected for the All-Star roster an additional four times. At the time of this writing, Jackson ranks 11th on the career home run list (563) and 20th on the career RBI list (1702).