Larry Yount

Infobox MLB retired
name=Larry Yount
position=Pitcher


bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1950|2|15
city-state|Houston|Texas
debutdate=September 15
debutyear=by|1973
debutteam=Houston Astros
finaldate=September 15
finalyear=by|1973
finalteam=Houston Astros
stat1label=Win-Loss record
stat1value=0-0
stat2label=Innings pitched
stat2value=0
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=0
teams=
*Houston Astros (1971)

Lawrence King "Larry" Yount (born February 15, 1950 in Houston, Texas) pitched for Major League Baseball's Houston Astros in by|1971 -- or, rather, he didn't. His brother, Robin Yount, had a long major league career that was capped by induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Larry, on the other hand, appeared in only one game -- without actually throwing an official pitch.

Yount went to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, and was a fifth round draft pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft. He impressed in the Carolina League in both by|1968 and by|1969 (he had a 2.25 ERA in 1969), and was invited to spring training at the major league camp in by|1970 and 1971. After a strong stint with the Astros' AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City, Yount was called up on September 2, 1971. Before he could join the big-league club, however, he had to serve a week-long stint in the military, which he later claimed tightened up his elbow.

Trailing the Atlanta Braves 4-1 in the Astrodome on September 15, 1971, Yount was summoned to pitch the ninth inning. While warming up, though, Yount's elbow began to stiffen. "I went to the mound and took a couple of tosses," he later said, "but (the elbow) continued to hurt, so I came out." Since he was announced, he was credited for having played that one game, even though he did not actually face a batter. Yount went back to the bench, then back to the minors. In spring training in by|1972, he was one of the last players cut.

Yount continued to play in the Astros organization until the end of the by|1973 season. At the end of spring training, by|1974, he was traded along with another minor leaguer to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Wilbur Howard. He was briefly in camp with his younger brother Robin, who was trying to make the squad as a rookie, but was quickly sent back to the minors.

The elder Yount retired after eight minor league seasons in 1976, later becoming a successful real estate developer in Arizona. Though he never faced a batter, he is listed by Major League Baseball as having appeared in one game, and his statistics are counted as official. [ [http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=124720] Link to Yount's MLB player page]

Larry's son Austin Yount was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent 2008 with the rookie-league Ogden Raptors, batting .301 [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Austin%20Yount&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=543958] ; Larry's nephew (and Robin's son) Dustin was released from the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2007 and played for the independent Lincoln Saltdogs in 2008. [http://www.saltdogs.com/team/roster/index.html?player_id=52]

References

External links

* [http://www.astrosdaily.com/history/yount.html Whatever Happened to Larry Yount?]
*

Bibliography

* Tellis, Richard, "Once Around The Bases", Triumph Books, Chicago, 1998, pp. 279-284.