Larry Stahl

Summary

Larry Floyd Stahl (born June 29, 1941) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball from 1964 to 1973 for the Kansas City Athletics, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds.

Larry Stahl
Outfielder
Born: (1941-06-29) June 29, 1941 (age 82)
Belleville, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
September 11, 1964, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1973, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Batting average.232
Home runs36
Runs batted in163
Teams

Stahl was signed by the Athletics in 1960 as an amateur free agent.[1] He broke into the big leagues on September 11, 1964, going 0-1 as a pinch-hitter against Wally Bunker in a 5-2 Kansas City loss to the Baltimore Orioles in Memorial Stadium.[2][3] After brief appearances in several more games, he notched his first career hit on September 19 at Yankee Stadium in an 8–3 loss to the New York Yankees. Pinch-hitting for pitcher Orlando Peña in the sixth inning, he hit a ground-rule double off Ralph Terry.[4]

Playing for the Padres on September 2, 1972, against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Stahl drew one of the most questionable bases on balls in baseball history — if only because of the circumstances surrounding it. Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas had retired the first 26 Padres hitters and was one strike away from a perfect game with a 2-2 count against pinch-hitter Stahl. However, home plate umpire Bruce Froemming called the next two pitches, both of which were close, balls. To date, the perfect game bid is the only one in Major League history to be broken up by a walk to the 27th batter. Pappas secured his no-hitter by retiring Garry Jestadt one batter later.

Primarily an outfielder, his best year was 1971 at age 30 when, in 114 games for the Padres, he hit .253 with eight home runs and 36 runs batted in. He had exactly 400 career hits. His contract was purchased by the Reds on December 1, 1972.[5] In his one postseason appearance, the 1973 National League Championship Series, playing for the Reds he had two hits in four at bats.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Larry Stahl". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  2. ^ "Larry Stahl Stats".
  3. ^ "Kansas City Athletics at Baltimore Orioles Box Score, September 11, 1964".
  4. ^ "Kansas City Athletics at New York Yankees Box Score, September 19, 1964".
  5. ^ Durso, Joseph. "A's Send Epstein to Rangers; Scheinblum, Nelson to Reds," The New York Times, Saturday, December 2, 1972. Retrieved April 13, 2020
  6. ^ "Larry Stahl Stats".

External links edit

  • Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)