Background
He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball most notably for the Philadelphia Athletics. Perkins batted and threw right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (178 m) tall and weighed 158 pounds (72 kg). Perkins served as a catcher with the Philadelphia Athletics (1915, 1917-1930), New York Yankees (1931) and Detroit Tigers (1934).
He was the starting catcher for Philadelphia until Mickey Cochrane joined the team in 1925.
After that Perkins served as a backup, being hailed as the man who taught Cochrane to catch without injuring his hands. In 17 MLB seasons and 1,171 games played, Perkins was a.259 hitter with 933 hits, 175 doubles, 35 triples, 30 home runs and 409 runs batted in.
Following his playing career, Perkins coached for 17 years in the Major Leagues with the Yankees (1932-1933), Tigers (1934-1939) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946-1954). He also managed Detroit in 1937 (along with Cochrane and Delegate Baker) and posted a 6–9 record.
Perkins died in Philadelphia at age 67.