Hot News

1.11.05

By JEFF MORELAND

HARRINGTON, Del. — He grew up on a farm, and he knows a thing or two about hard work on and off the farm. That hard work and its results were the basis for the message Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry delivered to the Delaware Vegetable Growers annual convention and awards banquet Thursday night.
Perry, 66, grew up in Williamston, N.C., where he worked with his brother and father on the family farm growing tobacco, peanuts, corn and soybeans. He said he remembers working the land with mules before they bought their first tractor when he was 14 years old.
He still owns some ranches where he has some cattle, but for the most part, he said he’s been out of farming for over 20 years, but he still remembers the lessons he learned on the farm.
“It takes a certain kind of family to be farmers,” Perry said. “They can’t have a lot of big wishes and big goals. They just kind of survive and enjoy life. It’s difficult to make a living farming. There is nothing guaranteed, and so many kids don’t want to continue on the family farm now. They can go out and get a computer job making $75,000 a year. It takes someone who really loves their work.”
Before hitting the major leagues, Perry played baseball on a semi-pro team in Alpine, Texas, called the Alpine Cowboys. His family would miss him on the farm, and he had to supplement the work he would have been doing if he were back home. Rather than have the family take on the expense of paying extra help, Perry took on the responsibility himself to keep a promise to his dad.
“As I left my family I went to Alpine, Texas. We got $300 a month to play and help out at churches and work on ranches in the area,” he explained. “I promised my dad if he’d let me play I’d send $200 of that home to pay for someone to help on the farm.”
The love for the game and hard work he learned on the farm were what eventually propelled Perry to the major leagues. He worked tirelessly to become one of the game’s all-time great pitchers, winning 314 games, striking out 3,534 batters and winning baseball’s prestigious Cy Young Award in both the National and American leagues. He was the first pitcher in history to claim the award in both leagues, and in addition, was named to five all-star teams in a big-league career that saw him win 20 games or more in a season five times. For his outstanding efforts, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1991.
After telling of some of the highlights and favorite moments from his career, Perry answered questions from the audience. When one farmer asked what allowed him to have such longevity in his career, he said, “It’s like when people say to you, ‘Why are you guys still farming?’ It’s because you love it.”
Perry’s own children are not farmers, but did have a brief stint during 1981’s baseball strike. With baseball at a stand-still for 41 days that summer, Perry was home more frequently and spent time with his children, teaching them a bit of what he had learned in his own youth.
“My kids got a real good taste of farming that year,” he said. “We grew peanuts, and I didn’t spray them. I got five hoes and we chopped peanuts from sun up to sun down. My kids got real religious that summer. They said, ‘Please, God, let this strike end!’ They didn’t take up farming after that.”
Perry ended on a serious note, recalling the advice his father gave him on farming or anything else he was going to do with his life, including baseball.
“It all started back many years ago farming,” he said. “We did the job right, and we worked hard. My dad said to work hard and always do it right the first time.”
In addition to the message by Perry, the association presented two special awards. The Delmarva Farmer will feature complete stories on the award winners in the next issue.