Looks like the fine people at Topps went over the photo negative with a Sharpie, then painted on the classic Detroit “D”.
Anyway, here’s what I came up with after finding this nice photo of him in a Detroit uni:
Perranoski really made a name for himself with his tenures for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins, which spanned 1961 through the 1970 seasons before playing out the final three years of his career with the Detroit Tigers, Angels, and a brief return with L.A.
He had some really good seasons during his career, including 1963 with the Dodgers when he went 16-3 with a 1.67 ERA and 21 saves over 69 appearances and 129 innings pitched. Those numbers were good enough for a fourth place finish in the National League’s MVP race that year.
Some years later he would end up leading the American League in saves with 31 and 34 in 1969 and 1970 respectively, giving the Twins a solid closer as they were fighting for the newly formed American League West championship.
By the time he retired after that 1973 campaign, Perranoski finished with a record of 79 and 74, with 178 saves and a very nice 2.79 ERA over 737 appearances and 1174.2 innings of work.
All but one of those appearances were out of the bullpen.
