Larry McWilliams
{{short description|American baseball player (born 1954)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Larry McWilliams
|image=Larry McWilliams Pirates.jpg
|position=Pitcher
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1954|2|10}}
|birth_place=Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=July 17
|debutyear=1978
|debutteam=Atlanta Braves
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 12
|finalyear=1990
|finalteam=Kansas City Royals
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Win–loss record
|stat1value=78–90
|stat2label=Earned run average
|stat2value=3.99
|stat3label=Strikeouts
|stat3value=940
|teams=
- Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1978}}–{{mlby|1982}})
- Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1982}}–{{mlby|1986}})
- Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1987}})
- St. Louis Cardinals ({{mlby|1988}})
- Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1989}})
- Kansas City Royals ({{mlby|1989}}–{{mlby|1990}})
}}
Larry Dean McWilliams (born February 10, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves (twice), Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Kansas City Royals, from {{baseball year|1978}}-{{baseball year|1990}}. During his playing days, he stood {{convert|6|ft|5|in}} tall, weighing {{convert|180|lb}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcwilla01.shtml|date=2019|title=Larry McWilliams Stats|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=April 2, 2019}}
Early life
After attending Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas, the Atlanta Braves selected the tall, lanky left-hander in the 1st round (6th overall pick) of the January phase of the 1974 Major League Baseball draft.
Professional baseball
McWilliams was drafted sixth overall by the Atlanta Braves in the 1974 January draft and made his major league debut on July 17, 1978. On August 1, 1978, in what was just the fourth start of McWilliams’ first MLB campaign, he was the winning pitcher (raising his record to 4–0), when the Braves stopped Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.{{cite web|url=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B08010ATL1978.htm|title=Retrosheet Boxscore: Atlanta Braves 16, Cincinnati Reds 4|date=August 1, 1978|publisher=Retrosheet|work=retrosheet.org|access-date=September 19, 2020}}
McWilliams made what was probably the key defensive play to stop the streak when, with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Rose, in his second plate appearance of the game, lined a pitch up the middle that McWilliams reached back and caught.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19780801&id=_egbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lVEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6488,2915547&hl=en|title=Garber, Braves end Rose threat to Dimaggio record|date=August 2, 1978|publisher=The Dispatch|work=the-dispatch.com|page=14|location=Lexington, North Carolina|via=news.google.com|access-date=September 19, 2020}}
McWilliams' best seasons were 1978, his rookie season, when he went 9-3, and {{baseball year|1983}}, when he posted a 15-8 record with 8 complete games, 4 shutouts, 199 strikeouts, and a 3.25 earned run average (ERA) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was nicknamed Spaghetti, by Pirates catcher Tony Pena. "That's what I call him. Take a look at his legs. They look like spaghetti. Real thin." said Pena during a postgame interview, in {{baseball year|1982}}.
On September 2, 1989, McWilliams was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Kansas City Royals for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) catcher [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=hulse-001jef Jeff Hulse]. McWilliams retired, after being released by the Royals on May 14, {{baseball year|1990}}.
Personal life
McWilliams and his wife Vicki have six children and nineteen grandchildren.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{baseballstats|mlb=118884|espn=601|br=m/mcwilla01|fangraphs=1008700|brm=mcwill001lar|retro=M/Pmcwil001}}
- [https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=mcwilla01 Larry McWilliams] at Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliams, Larry}}
Category:Atlanta Braves players
Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players
Category:St. Louis Cardinals players
Category:Philadelphia Phillies players
Category:Kansas City Royals players
Category:Richmond Braves players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Baseball players from Wichita, Kansas
Category:Paris Dragons baseball players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
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