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Gaylord Perry, two-time Cy Young winner, dies at 84

Indians Perry 1975
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GAFFNEY, S.C. — Baseball Hall of Famer and two-time Cy Young Award winner Gaylord Perry, a master of the spitball, died Thursday. He was 84.

Perry died at his home in Gaffney at about 5 a.m. Thursday of natural causes, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said. He did not provide additional details.

Perry pitched for eight major-league teams from 1962 until 1983. He won the Cy Young with Cleveland in 1972 and with San Diego in 1978 just after turning 40.

Gaylord Perry
FILE - In this Sept. 3, 1973, file photo, home plate umpire John Flaherty checks Cleveland Indians pitcher Gaylord Perry's cap for an illegal substance, at the request of Milwaukee Brewers manager Del Crandall, during the first game of a baseball doubleheader in Milwaukee. Blurring the line between legal and illegal, then figuring out how to get away with it, is as old as keeping score. Perry was the spitball king. (AP Photo/File)

Perry was a five-time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991.

Gaylord Perry, Corey Kluber
Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry, right, presents Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber with a replica of the American League Cy Young award before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Friday, April 10, 2015, in Cleveland. Kluber won the award for the 2014 season. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

He had a career record of 314-255, finished with 3,554 strikeouts and used a pitching style where he doctored baseballs or made batters believe he was doctoring them. His 1974 autobiography was titled “Me and the Spitter.”

After his career, Perry founded the baseball program at Limestone College in Gaffney and was its coach for the first three years.