Fellow Twins Hall of Famers Rick Aguilera, Gary Gaetti, Tom Kelly, Jim Rantz, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and Bert Blyleven were on hand Saturday to welcome the newest member of their exclusive club: Jim Perry.
Perry welcomed to Twins Hall of Fame
1970 Cy Young Award winner Jim Perry became the Twins' latest honoree.
June 12, 2011 at 2:11AM
"I'm very excited about this," Perry said, "I really am. It came late, but good. I'm here with an elite group and I'm happy."
Perry, who lives in North Carolina, had about 30 friends and family with him for the induction ceremony. He was 128-90 in 10 years with the Twins, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 1970. He also pitched with Cleveland, Detroit and Oakland and has a career record of 215-174.
He keeps busy with charitable events, especially golf tournaments. He plans to catch the Twins during spring training and hopes to strengthen his ties to the organization.
"Next year, in spring training, [I am going] to see them play more, be involved and see the guys," he said. "They've been trying to get me down there and I'm going to try to go.''
Kepler was the longest-tenured Twins player after signing at 16 in 2009.
