Clarence George Rautzhan (August 20, 1952 – January 9, 2016) was an American
pitcher in
Major League Baseball who played from 1977 to 1979 for the
Los Angeles Dodgers and
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
.
Career
Lance was offered a full athletic football scholarship to the University of Kentucky; when drafted in the third round pick for the Dodgers in 1970 (drafted right out of high school after he pitched a perfect game), decided to play baseball. He played years in the Dodger minor league system and had the most complete games in the AA Eastern League for a single season in 1975. In 1976 he made the AAA Pacific Coast League all-star team.
Rautzhan was the winning pitcher in
Game 3 of the 1977 NLCS against 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 ...
, after the Dodgers came back from a two-out, 5-3 deficit in the top of the 9th inning thanks to key pinch hits by
Vic Davalillo and
Manny Mota. His father William Rautzhan also played baseball in minor league for the Chicago White Sox.
Rautzhan also pitched with the Dodgers in the and World Series, both times against the New York Yankees.
[
Rautzhan died of cancer in ]Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its y ...
, on January 9, 2016, alongside his wife, Crystal, and daughter, Jaime.
References
External links
1952 births
2016 deaths
Albuquerque Dukes players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Bakersfield Dodgers players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Deaths from cancer in South Carolina
Daytona Beach Dodgers players
Holyoke Millers players
Los Angeles Dodgers players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Milwaukee Brewers players
Ogden Dodgers players
Sportspeople from Pottsville, Pennsylvania
Vancouver Canadians players
Waterbury Dodgers players
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