1947
Born November 26, 1947
Joliet, IL, USA
Larry Gura Marquee
b. November 26, 1947 · Chicago Cubs 1970–1973, 1985, New York Yankees 1974–1975, Kansas City Royals 1976–1985
The Yankees traded him to Kansas City in May 1976 for Fran Healy, a reserve catcher, which is generally attributed to Martin's dislike of him. He won 111 games for the Royals over the next decade, including 16-4 in 1978 and 18-10 in 1980 for the club that won the pennant, and beat New York twice in Championship Series.
Sixteen seasons gave him 126 wins against 97 — a .565 percentage — with a 3.76 earned run average, 2,047 innings and 16 shutouts. He was an All-Star in 1980 and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting.
He threw a curveball and a change and nothing above 85 miles an hour, and he was known for playing tennis in the clubhouse tunnel. The 1991 ballot gave him no votes at all.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1980 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 2 | 1980, 1981 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | CHC | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1971 | CHC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1972 | CHC | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1973 | CHC | 22 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .200 |
| 1974 | NYY | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | NYY | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | KCR | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | KCR | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | KCR | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | KCR | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | KCR | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | KCR | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | KCR | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | KCR | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | KCR | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | CHC/KCR | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 405 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .091 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | CHC | 1 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 38.0 | 35 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 3.79 |
| 1971 | CHC | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6.00 |
| 1972 | CHC | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12.1 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 3.65 |
| 1973 | CHC | 2 | 4 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 64.2 | 79 | 35 | 11 | 43 | 4.87 |
| 1974 | NYY | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 56.0 | 54 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 2.41 |
| 1975 | NYY | 7 | 8 | 26 | 20 | 0 | 151.1 | 173 | 59 | 41 | 65 | 3.51 |
| 1976 | KCR | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 62.2 | 47 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 2.30 |
| 1977 | KCR | 8 | 5 | 52 | 6 | 10 | 106.1 | 108 | 37 | 28 | 46 | 3.13 |
| 1978 | KCR | 16 | 4 | 35 | 26 | 0 | 221.2 | 183 | 67 | 60 | 81 | 2.72 |
| 1979 | KCR | 13 | 12 | 39 | 33 | 0 | 233.2 | 226 | 116 | 73 | 85 | 4.47 |
| 1980 | KCR | 18 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 283.1 | 272 | 93 | 76 | 113 | 2.95 |
| 1981 | KCR | 11 | 8 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 172.1 | 139 | 52 | 35 | 61 | 2.72 |
| 1982 | KCR | 18 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 248.0 | 251 | 111 | 64 | 98 | 4.03 |
| 1983 | KCR | 11 | 18 | 34 | 31 | 0 | 200.1 | 220 | 109 | 76 | 57 | 4.90 |
| 1984 | KCR | 12 | 9 | 31 | 25 | 0 | 168.2 | 175 | 97 | 67 | 68 | 5.18 |
| 1985 | CHC/KCR | 0 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 24.2 | 41 | 25 | 10 | 9 | 9.12 |
| Career | — | 126 | 97 | 403 | 261 | 14 | 2047.0 | 2020 | 855 | 600 | 801 | 3.76 |
On this day & linked events
1970
Major-league debut: Larry Gura
Larry Gura made a major-league debut on April 30, 1970.
1985
Final major-league game: Larry Gura
Larry Gura played a final major-league game on July 27, 1985.
Image: Kansas City Royals, public domain