Barry Lee Lersch (September 7, 1944 – October 4, 2009) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(–) and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

in (). A right-hander, he was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and was listed as tall and and attended East High School in

. One of Lersch's great baseball moments was a pitching victory in 1964's annual

Midnight Sun Game The Midnight Sun Game is an amateur baseball game played every summer solstice at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Because the sun is out for almost 24 hours a day, the game starts at about 10:30 at night and completes ar ...

. He defeated the host

Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are a collegiate summer baseball team which was founded in 1960 as an independent barnstorming team. The Goldpanners were charter members of the Alaska Baseball League at the league's inception in 1974. The G ...

by a score of 10–5; 2,500 people were on hand to witness his win. The game ended at 2:34 a.m. local time and is in the record books as one of the latest-finishing games in amateur baseball history. Lersch became a professional later that year when, in December 1964, he signed with the Phillies' organization. He made his MLB debut in April 1969 and spent four full years through ) in the big leagues. Lersch was primarily a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

in the majors; of his 169 career

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

, 53 were starts. He posted an 18–32 won–lost record and a 3.82 career

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. All of his decisions (and all but one of his games played) came with struggling Phillies teams. In 570

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, he allowed 536

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and 172

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, and

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denot ...

317. He was credited with nine

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, six saves and one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, a two-hitter against the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

on September 30, 1972, at

Jarry Park Jarry Park (french: Parc Jarry) is an urban park in the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Jarry Park has total area of 36 hectares. It is considered by the City of Montreal as one of its large park ...

. He was traded along with Craig Robinson from the

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

to the

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

for

Ron Schueler Ronald Richard Schueler (born April 18, 1948) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, pitching coach, executive and scout. Over the course of his eight-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Schueler played for the Atl ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 3, 1973.Durso, Joseph. "4 Trades Made at Meetings," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 4, 1973.
Retrieved January 26, 2023. Lersch died of a heart attack on October 4, 2009, in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

. He was 65; his body was donated to medical science.

References

External links

Barry Lersch
at Baseball Almanac
Barry Lersch
at Baseball Gauge
Barry Lersch
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)

at The Deadball Era 1944 births 2009 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Colorado Colorado Mesa Mavericks baseball players Eugene Emeralds players Florida Instructional League Phillies players Indios de Ciudad Juárez (minor league) players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Thunderbirds baseball players Mexican League baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Philadelphia Phillies players Richmond Braves players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Spartanburg Phillies players Tidewater Tides players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub