Perry Garfield

**Perry Garfield** (February 13, 1969 - May 12, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and psychologist. Garfield's baseball career began in high school, and it continued through his college years when he received an athletic scholarship. He was the pitcher for the Philadelphia Kites for 23 years, from 1991 to 2014. A graduate in psychology, Garfield worked as a psychologist for two years, from 2019 until his death in 2021.

## Early life

Garfield was born on February 13, 1969 in Compton to a single mother, Emily, a wedding planner, via sperm donation. Perry had several good friends during elementary and middle school, and had a close relationship with his pet cat, Jake.

At age 14, Garfield started playing baseball during his freshman year in high school. At age 18, upon graduating high school, he received a full athletic scholarship to play baseball at a university, where he would graduate with a degree in psychology in 1991, at age 22.

## Career

In 1991, after graduating from university, Garfield was offered a one-year, $500k contract to play for the Philadelphia Kites. He accepted it and joined the Kites as a pitcher. The following year, despite the team placing 26th in the league, he recieved the Rookie of the Year award for being the most oustanding rookie.

Garfield recieved the Most Improved Player Award five times, the first time in 1994 after his third season, and the fifth time in 1998 after his seventh season.

In 2014, Garfield was released from the Kites after twenty-three seasons. Soon after, he was offered a one-year, $7.9M contract to play as pitcher for the Atlanta Bombers. He accepted it, and was released from the Bombers after his twenty-forth season in 2015. This marked the end of his baseball career at the age of 46, as he was never offered another contract.

In 2019, to make use of his degree in psychology, Garfield found work as a school psychiatrist at Compton Public Schools. He helped many children that were either mentally ill or being bullied. He continued working as a psychologist for two years until his death in 2021.

## Personal life

Garfield was very popular with women during the early stages of his baseball career in the 1990s. In 1992, after several one night stands, he met his first girlfriend, Maya Tickle, a retired school administrator. They dated from 1992 until Tickle's death in 1995.

In 1996, Garfield wanted to have a baby with his pregnant third girlfriend, Addison McWeeny, a mail carrier, but she decided not to keep it. Garfield and McWeeny continued dating until 1998, when he met Aria Buffet, another mail carrier, whom he married in 1999. They had five children together and remained married until Garfield's death.

## Death

On May 12, 2021, Garfield pickpocketed $3 from a crackhead, $59 from an outlaw, and $12 from a thug. The latter shot Garfield in the scalp with a Gatling gun, killing him. He was 52 years old. Garfield's net worth at the time was $133,832,670. He is survived by his wife and five children. Garfield was posthumously awarded by the Compton Police Department for his heroic act of stealing from a criminal and by Compton Public Schools for his short-lived but outstanding work as a psychologist. He was posthumously inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. His grave is marked with his five MIP awards.