Name: Gerald Perry
Team: Atlanta Braves
Position: First Base / Left Field / Pinch Hitter
Card Year: 1987
Card Maker: Donruss
Card Number: 437
So regardless of my current feelings about baseball - I pulled a baseball card for this week's blog - Gerald Perry of the 1987 Atlanta Braves.
1987 being one of the final years the Braves would still be utilizing the logo shown at the bottom right of the card.
I'm always somewhat astounded (and I realize I probably shouldn't be about the use of that logo), but what is the most surprising to me is that logo made it until the late 80s. I had just been assuming that was their logo from the 50s and 60s, but boy was I wrong. It wasn't until 1990 that the Braves fully switched over to just the name and tomahawk logo they currently utilize. That just feels so recent, which I also know it isn't, but then I think about how long Cleveland kept their logo and team name, and well, as stated above - I guess I just shouldn't be all that surprised.
In any event, Gerald Perry was a long time member of the Braves organization. He was drafted by the Braves in 1978 in the 11th round and bounced around their system from then until 1989. He was then traded to the Royals in 1990 and was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals, where he remained for the rest of his career until 1995.
1987, the year this card was made, was a pretty good year for Gerald Perry, being one of his only seasons in the Braves starting lineup. He was 8th in the National League in stolen bases (42), and the only first baseman on that list though he split some time playing left field. He was also third in hits (144) and second in RBIs (74) on the 1987 Braves squad, which while deserving of the starting position - also indicated how rough a spot that team was in - finishing 69-82 - good for 5th out of 6th in the NL west division.
His 1988 season was his personal best, leading the Braves in both hits (164) and batting average (.300) making his first and only All Star game as a National League reserve 1st baseman. While statistically this was Perry's best season in baseball, the Braves as a team were even worse than in 1987, finishing with a 54-106 a record that was just shy of being the worst in baseball that year - an honor held by the Baltimore Orioles who also had 54 wins, but one more loss at 107.
By 1990, Perry had been traded to the Royals where he would start one season at DH as George Brett had the first base position firmly locked down. The remainder of his career was spent in St. Louis, mostly as a pinch hitter. The last fun fact that I was able to dig up on him was that he holds the record for hits by a pinch hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals with 70. So while seeing only time as a reserve in St. Louis, he made the most of that time.
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