Andrew Romine
Matt Ginter
Larry Foster spent his sip of coffee with the Tigers. He was born in Lansing, MI and went to
Lansing Sexton before heading to Michigan State University. He was there in 1958 and made headlines with
his teammates Ron Perronoski and Dick Radatz as all three were heading off to
pro careers that year from MSU.
Unfortunately for Larry it would take longer for him than the
others. Larry went into the minors and
worked for 5 years progressing along the way up to AAA Syracuse in 1963 for the
Tiges. He was a right handed starter
with a 3-4 record and a 5.81 ERA when the Tigers called him up as a late season
call up in 1963. On September 18 the Tigers
trailed the Twins 6-0 in the 6th inning in Minnesota. Larry was called in by Tiger skipper Chuck
Dressen to face Rich Rollins leading off the 6th. He K’d Rollins. He then walked Jimmie Hall before giving up a
single to Harmon Killebrew. Don Mincher
then hit a double to score both Hall and Killebrew. Bobby Allison then flew out to right before
Earl Battey singled to score Mincher.
Bernie Allen then ended the inning with a ground out to Larry on the
mound. In the 7th Larry
calmed down. He got the first two Twins
out before facing Rollins again. This
time Larry gave up a single to Rollins.
Jimmie Hall then reached on an error which brought Killebrew back to the
plate with two on and two out. Larry got
Killebrew to hit a ground ball to third baseman Bubba Phillips who stepped on
third for the force and the end of the inning.
Unfortunately it was also the end of Larry’s major league career. He was never called in to another game. Larry ended his professional career two
years later after a couple more years in the minors at the age of 27. He had pitched only 2 innings in the majors
and had a 13.50 ERA with no decisions but he did K his first batter faced.
Ed McCreery
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