Ron Perranoski: Reliever Deluxe

The Dodgers have had many great relievers over the years. Their first star reliever in Los Angeles was Larry Sherry, who was the 59 World Series MVP.

The next season, 1960, in April the Dodgers traded infielder Don Zimmer to the Cubs for Johnny Goryl, Lee Handley, a RH-hitting outfielder, and LH reliever, Ron Perranoski, plus $25,000.

It would prove to be a very astute move for GM Buzzie Bavasi. Zimmer was coming off of his worst season in the majors, and he was replaced at SS by Maury Wills. Goryl was considered a backup infielder and Handley was AAA bound.

Goryl was taken in the 61 rule-5 draft by the Twins, and Handley was out of baseball by 1961. Perranoski would become a vital part of the Dodgers bullpen, and by 1963, he would be the Dodgers closer.

Ronald Peter Perranoski was born in Patterson, New Jersey on April 1, 1936. His parents, Peter and Emily, were a working class family living in the nearby town of Fairlawn.

His dad was a textile dyer and his mother was a telephone operator at New Jersey Bell for 33 years.  The Perranoski’s also had a daughter, Pat. Both of Ron’s paternal grandparents were born in Poland and the family surname was still Perzanowski in 1940.

Perranoski is also the cousin of former major leaguer Stan Perzanowski. Perzanowski spent parts of five seasons in the majors as a RH relief pitcher with the White Sox, Rangers and Twins between 1971-78.

As a kid, Perry was a big Yankee fan. He played baseball and basketball at Fairlawn high. He turned down a bonus from the White Sox after graduation and accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame, but changed his mind and went to Michigan State.

While at MSU he won 16 of his 19 decisions and was chosen as the most valuable pitcher both years. He was all Big-10 in 1958 and starred on the same staff as future big league relief ace, Dick Radatz.

During that summer, Ron honed his pitching skills pitching for Watertown, of the South Dakota Basin League. He became a professional when he signed with Cubs scout John Streza for 21,000 dollars. Luckily the bonus baby rule which called for a player getting 4,000 or more having to be on the major league roster, was rescinded.

He was sent to Burlington, of the Class-B, Three-I league. He made 18 appearances, 13 of those starts. He had a 5-9 record with a 6.43 ERA. But he struck out 92 batters in 84 innings. Sixteen of them came in a 1-0 win.

He was promoted to Fort Worth, AA-Texas League. He made two appearances and was not involved in a decision in either one.

In 1959, the San Antonio Missions became the Cubs new Texas League affiliate. Perry struck out a club record 139 in 199 innings. He finished at 11-10 with a 3.12 ERA. After the Missions were eliminated from the playoffs, he returned to Fort Worth, which was now a AAA affiliate for their playoff run.

In April of 1960, while serving in the Army at Fort Leonard Wood in Louisiana, he learned of the trade to the Dodgers. All three of the players involved in the trade reported to the Montreal Royals, one of the Dodgers AAA teams. Perry had 47 appearances there, 34 out of the pen. He was 9-8 with a 2.87 ERA in 138 innings.

He then went to St. Paul, the Dodgers other AAA team. He compiled a 3-3 record with a 1.58 ERA. At one point he threw 26 consecutive scoreless innings. He made starts in 5 of his 10 games.

That winter he pitched in the Venezuelan winter league and in Puerto Rico.  Al Campanis, who was a scout at the time, saw him in winter ball. I was told his fastball was average, but what I saw was an MLB ready fastball.

LA was in desperate need of a lefty reliever. Ron was not on the 40-man roster, but he took full advantage of being the right guy in the right place, and with 5 scoreless innings in the Grapefruit League, he made the roster out of spring training.

His rookie season, Perry led the Dodgers with a 2.65 ERA in 91.2 innings. He and Sherry led the team in games pitched with 53. He compiled a 7-5 record with 6 saves. The LA chapter of the BBWAA named him the 1961 Dodger Rookie of the Year.

The Dodgers had been predicted to win the pennant in 61, but finished four games behind the surprising Reds, who had been picked to finish 6th by the Sporting News.

In 62, Perranoski led all MLB pitchers by appearing in 70 games. He did give up Stan Musial’s 3,431st hit, which allowed him to pass Honus Wagner for the most hits in NL history. Of course, Pete Rose would blow by that mark.

Perry had a 2.85 ERA in 107.1 innings. One of the reasons was his penchant for not giving up homers. He allowed only one all year. LA had moved into Dodger Stadium, but suffered the ultimate humiliation of being beaten at home in the three game playoff by the Giants.

Of course one huge contributing factor was the injury to Sandy Koufax. Koufax had a circulation problem in his finger which kept him out for several weeks. When he returned at the end of the year, he was not the same pitcher. Perry was selected Sophomore of the year.

The Dodgers rebounded to win the pennant in ’63. Perranoski notched 21 of the team’s 29 saves. He also compiled a 16-3 record and a 1.67 ERA. He would have led the league in that category had his 129 innings been enough to qualify. His 16 wins by a lefty reliever surpassed Luis Arroyo’s 15 in 61.

He was named Fleer’s player of the month in August. Coincidentally, so was his college teammate, Dick Radatz in the AL. He was a crucial part of a three-games sweep over the Cardinals in September which all but clinched the pennant for the Dodgers.

LA had been in first place since July 2nd, but the Cardinals had closed to within one game when they met on September 16th. Perry got his 18th save with a scoreless ninth in relief of Johnny Podres, a 3-1 win. Koufax shut out the Cards 4-0 the next day.

Perry came in to allow no runs and three hits over 6 innings to win the thrilling 6-5 win in 13 innings. Those hits included stranding Dick Groat at third after a lead-off triple in the 10th. This was the Dick Nen game. Nen tied the game at 5-5 with a homer off of Ron Taylor. Lou Burdette was the losing pitcher.

In the 63 series, a historic sweep by the Dodgers, Perranoski was the only relief pitcher to make an appearance as he pitched 2/3rd of an inning in the Dodgers 4-1 win in game 2. Big D and Koufax pitched complete games in the other three contests.

Koufax won the Cy Young and the MVP award that season. Matching Don Newcombe’s feat in 1956. Kershaw would become the third Dodger pitcher to accomplish that in 2014.

Believe it or not, he was not chosen the NL Fireman of the Year by the Sporting News. Lindy McDaniel of the Cubs won the award. But using the system used today, he would have beaten McDaniel for the award.

1964 was not kind to the Champs. Koufax had injury problems again but still managed 19 wins in 29 starts. Perry was injured also and had a sub par, 5-7, 14 save, 3.09 effort. He appeared in 72 games. The Dodgers finished 80-82 tied for sixth with the Pirates. During that winter, Perranoski appeared in an episode of The Rifleman with Chuck Connors, himself a former Dodger.

Perry and the Dodgers rebounded in 65. Perry was 6-6 but had 18 saves and a 2.24 ERA. The Dodgers had to overcome a 4.5 game lead that the Giants had built up by September 16th. But the Dodgers won 13 in a row and 15 of their last 16 to finish at 97-65 and beat the Giants by two games.

Perhaps exhausted by the push to the pennant, LA lost the first two games of the 65 series behind Big D and Sandy. Perry was scoreless in relief of Drysdale in game one, but allowed the last three runs in a 5-1 defeat in game two.

He did not pitch again in the series, which LA came back to win in seven. Osteen, Drysdale and Koufax, pitched complete game wins in the next three at Dodger Stadium. Osteen lost game six back in Minnesota, but Howie Reed and Bob Miller were used in relief. Koufax came back on two days’ rest and shut out the Twins 2-0 for the win.

Perry’s 66 season was his worst as a Dodger. He was 6-7 with 6 saves. His ERA was 3.18. He lost his place as the Dodgers closer to Phil Regan, nicknamed “The Vulture”. He would swoop in and get a win. He was 14-1 with 21 saves and earned the NL Fireman of the Year award. The Dodgers were swept in the World Series by the Orioles.

1967 would be a little better for Perry. He went 6-7 again, but had 16 saves. His ERA was 2.45. The Dodgers had traded Phil Regan in April to the Cubs in what obviously turned out to be a bad trade. Neither player they received, Jim Ellis, and Ted Savage, contributed much.

Koufax had retired after the 66 season due to his balky arthritic elbow, and conversely the Dodgers dropped to 8th place.

Feeling a need to shake things up, Bavasi traded Perranoski, Bob Miller and Johnny Roseboro to the Twins for Zoilo Versalles and Mudcat Grant.

The trade did not do much for either franchise that year, but Perry did well with a 8-7 3.10 6 save campaign. In 68, the Twins new manager, Billy Martin, started using Perry a lot more and he thrived on the added work. Over the next two seasons, he would go 16-18 with 65 saves. Over those two seasons he pitched 230.2 innings. His 31 saves in 69 led the AL and set the record for saves. His 34 the next year again led the AL and set the record again. He was named Fireman of the Year both seasons. Amazingly, Perry never was named to an All-Star team.

Perry did not do well in his postseason appearances in Minnesota. He was 0-1 with a 10.29 ERA in 5 games. At the end of July in 1971, he was claimed off waivers by the Tigers after compiling a 1-4 6.75 ERA and 5 saves. The Tigers were managed by Billy Martin. Perry went 0-1 with 2 saves and a sub 3 ERA.

In 72 he was released again by the Tigers after going 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. He then signed with the Dodgers in August and went 2-0 with no saves and 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings.

He was released at the end of the year, and signed with the Angels for his final MLB season. He was injured and subsequently went 0-2 in just 8 games. But he got a taste of his next career as he was Angels bullpen coach.

He finished his career with a 79-74 record, 178 saves and a career 2.79 ERA in 737 games. In February of 1970, Perranoski barely escaped death while in NYC to take a stockbrokers course.

He had just stepped off of the curb when a board weighing 5 pounds with 2 nails in it struck him in the back. If he had not taken that step, the board would have hit him in the head and killed him.

As it was, it broke two vertebrae in his back and put him in the hospital for a week. As it was, he had to undergo therapy for his back all of the 1970 season.

From 1974-80, Perry was the Dodgers minor league pitching instructor with Terry Forster and Rick Sutcliffe as two of his more notable pupils. He became the Dodgers pitching coach under Lasorda in 1981 and held that job until 1994.

During his tenure, Valenzuela and Hershiser earned the Cy Young, Alejandro Pena won an ERA award, and Ramon Martinez developed into a 20 game winner.

Although the Dodgers team ERA was first or second in 9 of his 14 years as coach, Perry was unceremoniously terminated when the team expanded minor league pitching instructor Dave Wallace’s duties to include his proteges now in the majors.

Perranoski lamented, if there had been any communication at all, if I had known about it, I would have been able to get my ducks in a row Perry replied.

Perhaps feeling guilty about the way they had fired such a long term loyal employee, Peter O’Malley, GM Fred Claire and Lasorda, helped Perry get hired about 2 months later as the Giants coordinator of minor league pitching.

In 1997 Perry became the bench coach for Giants manager, Dusty Baker, himself a former Dodger standout. He was Dusty’s pitching coach in 98-99 and coached Estes, Nen and Russ Ortiz.

He moved into the administrative side of the game in 2000 and worked in that capacity until 2014 when Sabean moved to the position of executive vice president of baseball operations.

Perry then retired to Vero Beach Florida. He was named to the Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. He raised three sons, Ron, Brad and Michael, with his first wife Sue Ellen, whom he had met at Michigan State.

Perranoski was 84 when he passed away from a long illness on October 2, 2020. His 101 saves as a Dodger put him sixth behind Jim Brewers, 125.

From NY Times Article on Passing Of Ron Perranoski

Resources: Society for American Baseball Research. Baseball Reference, Wikipedia.