- 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=Strikeout s
stat3value=0
teams=
*Houston Astros (1971)Lawrence King "Larry" Yount (born
February 15 ,1950 inHouston, Texas ) pitched forMajor League Baseball 'sHouston 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 the1968 Major League Baseball Draft . He impressed in theCarolina 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 theAstrodome onSeptember 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 theMilwaukee Brewers for outfielderWilbur 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-leagueOgden 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 theBaltimore Orioles organization in 2007 and played for the independentLincoln 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.
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