Sherry, Larry

Lawrence Sherry

In 1959, Sherry had one of the most remarkable seasons in baseball history. As a 24-year old rookie, Larry was called up in midseason, and went 7-2 to help lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series. He finished with seven straight victories and, in 36 innings of relief pitching, compiled an almost unbelievable 0.74 ERA. In the 1959 World Series, Sherry won two games and saved two more, yielding only one run in four appearances. He was named the World Series MVP. Walter Alston, his manager with the Dodgers, said, "I can't think of a pitcher like him that anybody ever had." After the 1959 Series, losing White Sox manager Al Lopez said of Sherry, "He's the guy who killed us. He was the guy we couldn't touch." Two of Sherry's teammates on the Dodgers were the great Sandy Koufax, and Larry's older brother, catcher Norm Sherry.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. July 25, 1935 - d. December 17, 2006

Career Highlights:
Born with two club feet, Sherry had to wear braces to walk properly until the age of 12. In high school, he was converted from an infielder to a pitcher because of his lack of speed -- one of his high school teammates was future big league pitcher Barry Latman. After graduating high school in 1953, Larry signed with the Dodgers and first appeared with the club in 1958, their first season in Los Angeles. Although he never had a winning season in the minors, Sherry was called up in the midst of the 1959 pennant race and became the club's most important reliever. Larry went 7-2 and had a 2.19 ERA that year, then won the first game of the NL playoff against the Milwaukee Braves. That, however, was only a warm-up for the World Series, in which he relieved in all 4 Dodger wins, recording saves in Games 2 and 3, and wins in Games 4 and 6. He allowed only 1 run in 12.2 innings and even batted 2-4 to win the World Series MVP!

There was no way to improve upon his 1959 season, but Sherry continued to pitch well for the Dodgers over the next few years. In 1960, he went 14-10 with a 3.79 ERA, and led the NL with 13 relief wins. The following year, he finished fifth in the league in saves with 15, then went 7-3 with 11 saves and a 3.20 ERA in 1962. The Dodgers traded Sherry to the Detroit Tigers in 1964. Larry was outstanding in the American League as well, finishing 7-5 with 11 saves and a 3.66 ERA that season. Two years later, Larry registered a career high 20 saves (3rd in the league) for the Tigers. He pitched two more seasons with the Tigers, Houston Astros, and California Angels, before retiring in 1968 with a 53-44 won-lost mark and 82 career saves. He later returned to the Dodger organization as a pitching coach.

Career Dates:
Sherry pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1958-63, the Detroit Tigers, 1964-67, the Houston Astros, 1967, and California Angels in 1968.

Position:
Pitcher

Physical description:
6'2", 180 pounds
Right-handed

Career Statistics:
Wins: 53
Losses: 44
Winning pct.: .546

ERA: 3.67

Games: 416
Games Started: 16
Complete Games: 2

Innings Pitched: 799.1
Hits Allowed: 747
Bases-on-Balls: 374
Strike Outs: 606

Shut-outs: 1

Relief Pitching
Wins: 47
Losses: 37
Saves: 82

Batting
At-bats: 148
Hits: 25
Home Runs: 3
Batting Average: .169

Fielding Statistics
Put-outs: 51
Assists: 113
Errors: 13
Double Plays: 9

Total Chances per Game: 0.4
Fielding avg: .927

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