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Gaylord Perry finished his Hall of
Fame career with 314 wins and 3,524
strikeouts, but his place in baseball
history rests mainly with his notorious
use of the spitball. A ball moistened
with saliva or another substance to
make it move erratically. As Perry
reveled in his 1974 autobiography "Me
and the Spitter," Gaylord admitted to
throwing mud balls, sweat balls,
Vaseline balls, and K-Y jelly balls.
The book also acted as psychological
weapon used against batters, building on
his reputation for throwing the pitch.
On the mound Perry would do a fidgety routine before throwing each pitch,
where he’d touch the brim of his cap,
his eyebrows, ear, cheek, the side of
his head, his jersey or wherever
else the wad of Petroleum Jelly could
be hidden. It was all designed to make the
batter wonder if he was loading up on
the ball. Thus Perry could throw a
perfectly clean pitch and still take
advantage from the spitter because it
was such a threat. Batterers never knew
what was coming. Although the "spitter"
had been outlawed since the 1920's,
there is no rule against tricking the
batter into expecting a spitball.
Upon Gaylord Perry's retirement after the 1983 season, it was common for
fans to show up at card shows and ask
him to sign jars of Vaseline. Promoters
and dealers had the jars signed in
bulk. It became as common for Perry to
sign a jar of Vaseline as a baseball.
In effect because of it's popularity
and demand with fans, an autographed jar of
Vaseline has a higher value than a
Gaylord Perry single signed baseball.
I'm not sure where the sweet spot is on
a jar of Vaseline but you will
basically find his signature on the top
of the lid, the side of the lid or on
the jar itself. All have the same value
and it comes down to collectors
preference, display of the autograph,
and overall eye appeal.
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