Larry Sherry

Infobox MLB retired
name=Larry Sherry


position=Pitcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date|1935|7|25
Los Angeles, California
deathdate=death date and age|2006|12|17|1935|7|25
Mission Viejo, California
debutdate=April 17
debutyear=by|1958
debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
finaldate=July 7
finalyear=by|1968
finalteam=California Angels
stat1label=Win-Loss record
stat1value=53-44
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=3.67
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=606
teams=
* Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1958-by|1963)
* Detroit Tigers (by|1965-by|1967)
* Houston Astros (by|1967)
* California Angels (by|1968)
highlights=
* World Series champion (1959)
* 1959 World Series MVP
* 1959 Babe Ruth Award

Lawrence Sherry (July 25 1935 - December 17 2006) was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1959 World Series as the Dodgers won their first championship since relocating from Brooklyn just two years earlier.

Early life

Sherry was born with clubfeet for which he needed surgery as an infant and wore special shoes. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/sports/baseball/20sherry.html] He attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.

Baseball career

From Los Angeles, California, Sherry made his debut with his hometown Dodgers on April 17, by|1958 – just their third game after moving west. Adding to the pressure, the game was played on the road against their hated rivals, the San Francisco Giants, who had also relocated from New York City. Sherry had a brief outing, facing four batters without recording an out, and appeared in only four more games all year.

But he returned with a solid season in by|1959, winning 7 games with only two losses, with an earned run average of 2.19. He was named MVP of the 1959 Series, in which the Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox in 6 games, and also received the Babe Ruth Award. Sherry completed all four Dodger victories during the Series, winning two of them, and had a 0.71 ERA in 12-2/3 innings.

In by|1960 he won a career-high 14 games, finished 38 games (4th in the league), pitched in 57 games (6th in the league), and even received support for MVP.

In 1961 he was 5th in the NL in saves (15) and games finished (34), and 9th in games pitched (53).

In 1962 he was 7th in saves (11) and games pitched (58).

Sherry and his brother Norm, a Dodgers catcher from 1959 to 1962, became the first all-Jewish battery in major league history.

He was traded to the Tigers for Lou Johnson and cash just before the by|1964 season, and spent three and a half years with his new club, earning a career-best 20 saves in 1966, 3rd-best in the AL.

He was traded to the Houston Astros for Jim Landis for the second half of the 1967 season, and ended his career with three games for the California Angels in by|1968.

Sherry retired with a record of 53-44, 606 strikeouts, 82 saves and a 3.67 ERA in 416 games and 799-1/3 innings.

Coaching career

He later coached in the Dodgers' minor league organization. Sherry was a Pittsburgh Pirates coach in 1977 and 1978, and a member of the California Angels coaching staff in 1979 and 1980. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Larry_Sherry]

In an article in 1976 in Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Larry Sherry was the relief pitcher on Stein's Jewish team.

Death

On December 17 2006, after a long battle with cancer, Sherry died at his home in Mission Viejo, California.

External links

*baseball-reference|id=s/sherrla01
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Larry-Sherry.shtml Baseball Cube stats]
* [http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1011883&position=P Fangraphs stats]
* [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1091&pid=12953 SABR biography]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Sherry_Larry.stm Baseball Library]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Larry_Sherry BR Bullpen profile]
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061218&content_id=1763803&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb MLB Obituary]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/sports/baseball/20sherry.html Obituary, 12/20/06, The New York Times]