gaylord perry is in my hall of famer collection

gaylord perry was a ranger in the 1978 topps set, which is how i first came across his existence.  as a result, i was looking for an autographed card showing him in texas gear for my hall of famer collection.  at some point, however, i found this card - a 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph:

and decided that it should be perry's representative card in my collection.  here's the back:

while perry was a ranger on 1978 topps cardboard, he was a padre during the actual 1978 season.  as such, i followed his national league exploits that season through the box scores in the la times, and watched (on tv) him pitch in the last game of the season - a sunday tilt against the dodgers.  i can recall perry in the padre home uniform, and i remembered the game having some significance.  it was the game wherein perry recorded his 3,000th career strikeout (courtesy of joe simpson, who also became victim number 3,001 a couple of innings later).  perry was just the third pitcher to reach that milestone, following walter johnson and bob gibson.

so, it makes sense to have an autographed perry card showing him in the padre uniform.  it is even better that the card references the 1978 season, which was the year perry became the first pitcher to win the cy young award in both leagues, having previously won the award as an american leaguer in 1974.

i never saw perry pitch in person, but i did see him at a card show in orange county circa 1995. he and tom seaver were signing autographs, but i just stood back and tried to picture that man in brown and yellow as i remembered him from my youth.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relics

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relics

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relics

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autographs

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autographs 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autographs

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame