The Atlanta Braves have employed some of baseball's best over the years. Whether it be during the beginning, middle, or end of their careers. Sometimes it provides excellent results, but other times it's a disappointing end.
There was a Hall of Fame pitcher who got the opportunity to pitch for the Braves in the early 80s. That was the fate of right-hander Gaylord Perry on January 12th, 1981. Perry became a Hall of Famer after an incredibly impressive 22-year career. He accumulated a 93 WAR and 314 wins, with a 3.11 ERA over 5,350 innings. The righty issued 1,379 walks and struck out 3,534 batters. His strikeout total ranks ninth in MLB history.
The strikeout total is enough to be impressed by, but he also has the 17th-most wins, just behind Braves legend Phil Niekro, who is 16th with 318 career wins.
Braves History: Gaylord Perry was with Atlanta for a short time, but the Braves did get to see him reach 300 wins
Atlanta hoped they could get a great year out of the veteran, who was 42 years old at the time. He pitched decently, but not to the level he was at in his prime. Perry had an 8-9 record over 23 games that season; three of them were complete games.
He led the league with the most hits allowed at 182, with 24 walks and 60 strikeouts. Unfortunately, his inability to limit baserunners and rack up strikeouts kept his time in Atlanta very brief. The Braves released him on October 5th when he was just three wins shy of 300 career wins.
It would have been a lot of fun to see him accomplish that while in a Braves uniform. However, he eventually reached the mark with the Mariners in 1982. He was decent for Seattle over 200 innings, but his ERA was very poor.
Perry called it a career after the 1983 season, and his season with Atlanta is likely not thought about very often. However, it is always interesting trivia for die-hard Braves fans to know what legends have donned their favorite team's uniform.