Lawrence David Biittner (July 27, 1946 – January 2, 2022) was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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) who played for four teams from 1970 to 1983, most notably the Chicago Cubs and Washington Senators / Texas Rangers. He enjoyed his best season with the Cubs in 1977,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.298 with 12

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 62

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI), and posting career highs in nearly every category. In later years he was increasingly used as a pinch hitter, which became his primary role in his final three seasons.

Early life

Biittner was born in

Pocahontas, Iowa Pocahontas is a city in and the county seat of Pocahontas County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,867 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 1,970 population in 2000. History Pocahontas was first settled and surveyed in 1870 by Warrick ...

, on July 27, 1946. He was one of twelve children of Edward Oscar Biittner and Henrietta Amollia (Stoulil). His paternal grandparents immigrated from Germany in 1879. Biittner attended Catholic High in his hometown, graduating in 1964. He was awarded a basketball scholarship by

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. His ...

, but eventually transferred to

Buena Vista College Buena Vista University is a private university in Storm Lake, Iowa. Founded in 1891 as Buena Vista College, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The university's campus is situated on the shores of Storm Lake, a natural lake. At i ...

on a basketball and baseball scholarship. He was subsequently drafted by the Washington Senators in the tenth round of the

1968 Major League Baseball draft The 1968 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1968 MLB season. The draft saw the New York Mets take shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, whi ...

Professional career

Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1970–1973)

Biittner played two seasons in the minor leagues from 1968 to 1970, while spending almost all the 1969 season serving in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He made his MLB debut on July 17, 1970, ten days before his 24th birthday, entering as a pinch hitter and grounding out in his only plate appearance in a 10–0 loss against the California Angels. During his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

year in 1971, he finished fourth in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) in assists (6) and errors (5) by a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, despite playing only 44 games defensively. He also posted a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .257 and batted .368 as a pinch hitter. Biittner's .259 average in 1972 was tied with

Toby Harrah Colbert Dale (Toby) Harrah (born October 26, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop and third baseman in Major League Baseball from to . Harrah played the majority of his career for the Texas Rangers f ...

for the team lead. He also hit his first

on June 30 that year, immediately after

Ted Ford Theodore Henry Ford (born February 7, 1947) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers from 1970 to 1973. He is the grandfather of Darren Ford, who debuted with the San Franc ...

hit one. This marked the first back-to-back home runs in Texas Rangers history.

Montreal Expos (1974–1976)

Biittner was traded from the Rangers to 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 ...

for Pat Jarvis on December 20, 1973. He spent the first part of the 1974 season with the

Memphis Blues The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine shows a ...

(the Expos' Class-AAA affiliate), before being promoted to the major league roster in August. However, he was limited to pinch-hitting appearances. The following year saw Biittner bat .315 (the highest among Expos players that season), along with 109 hits and 28

(RBI). He was later traded with

Steve Renko Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Red S ...

to the Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1976, in exchange for Andre Thornton.

Chicago Cubs (1976–1980)

Biittner initially played in a platoon role for the Cubs at first base and left field. However, a hand injury at the end of July relegated him to pinch-hitting for the remainder of the 1976 season. He rebounded the following year, recording career-highs in plate appearances (532), hits (147), home runs (12), and RBIs (62) to go along with a .298 batting average. He also finished ninth in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in at bat per strikeout (13.7) and eighth in double plays grounded into (17). Biittner made his first and only pitching appearance during a July 4 doubleheader against the Expos, surrendering six

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

and striking out three in 1 innings pitched while being fined $50 for throwing over

Del Unser Delbert Bernard Unser (born December 9, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder and utility player from to , most prominently with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was ...

's head. He fell a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

short of

hitting for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League ...

on September 26 of that same year. Biittner received less playing time over his final three seasons with the Cubs and did not exceed 300 plate appearances in 1979 or 1980. He again fell short of the cycle on August 15, 1979, this time missing the feat by a home run. He later equalled the franchise record for most pinch hits (46) on October 5 the following year.

Later years

Biittner signed with the Cincinnati Reds on January 12, 1981, becoming the first

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

signed by the franchise. He was limited to just 42 games that year due to the

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. He subsequently hit .310 with two home runs and 24 RBIs before being released at the end of the season. Later in December 1982, the Texas Rangers signed Biittner as a free agent. He played his final major league game on September 29, 1983, at the age of 37. He was ultimately released at the end of the season on October 31, 1983. In 1,217 games over 14 seasons, Biittner posted a .273

(861-for-3151) with 310 runs, 29 home runs, 354 RBI, and 236 bases on balls. Defensively, he recorded a .985 fielding percentage playing at first base and all three outfield positions.

Personal life

Biittner married Ann Janette Cleal in 1968. They met when he was a college sophomore and she a high school senior. Together, they had two children: Thomas and Robert. They divorced in 1989. After retiring from professional baseball, Biitner became a

commodity trader A trader is a person, firm, or entity in finance who buys and sells financial instruments, such as forex, cryptocurrencies, stocks, bonds, commodities, derivatives, and mutual funds in the capacity of agent, hedger, arbitrageur, or speculator. ...

at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and also worked briefly in real estate. He ultimately returned to his hometown in Iowa in 1990 and farmed with his former brother-in-law. He died on January 2, 2022, at the age of 75. He suffered from cancer prior to his death.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biittner, Larry 1946 births 2022 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball first basemen Chicago Cubs players Texas Rangers players Cincinnati Reds players Montreal Expos players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Iowa Denver Bears players Memphis Blues players Pittsfield Senators players Savannah Senators players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Águilas del Zulia players Buena Vista Beavers baseball players People from Pocahontas, Iowa American people of German descent Deaths from cancer in Iowa