Laurence Joseph Fritz (February 14, 1949 – July 22, 2010), nicknamed "Zeb", was an American professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (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 ...

, as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. He appeared in only one big league game, during the season. Listed at , 225 lb., Fritz batted and threw left-handed. A native of Whiting, Indiana, Fritz attended Whiting High School and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. Fritz was selected by the New York Mets in the third round (57th overall) of the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks ...

, playing in their Minor League Baseball (MiLB) system for the

Marion Mets The Marion Mets were a minor league baseball team based in Marion, Virginia that played in the Appalachian League from 1965 to 1976. They were affiliated with the New York Mets and played their home games at the Marion High School baseball field ...

(1969, 1971-72),

Visalia Mets Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

(1970, 1972), Memphis Blues (1972), and Tidewater Tides (1972-73), before joining the Phillies organization in 1974. Fritz began the 1974 season with Double-A Reading Phillies, for whom he hit eight

home runs 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 ...

, with 19 runs batted in (RBI), in 15 games. During the midseason, he gained a promotion to Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, where he batted three homers and drove in seven runs in 16 games. In 1975, Fritz was purchased by Philadelphia from Toledo after Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa broke his hand in a game against the San Francisco Giants on May 27. Fritz made his lone MLB appearance on May 30, 1975 at Veterans Stadium against the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. With the Phillies trailing 5 to 0, and with two-outs and Mike Anderson on first in the bottom of the ninth-inning, Fritz pinch-hit for Larry Christenson. Facing Astros pitcher Doug Konieczny, Fritz flew out to left-field to end the game. On June 6, 1975, Mud Hens first baseman

Andy Kosco Andrew John Kosco (born October 5, 1941) is a former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, California Angels, Boston Red Sox, a ...

broke his wrist. The Phillies returned Fritz to Toledo and in his place recalled outfielder Mike Rogodzinski from Reading. In a seven-year minor league career, Fritz batted .273, with 117 home runs, and 235 RBI, in 635 games, including a .356

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .498

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. Following his baseball career, Fritz went on to play softball for numerous Indiana teams. He also served in the Indiana National Guard, Company C 113th Engineer Battalion, and worked as a truck driver until his retirement in 2004 from Metro Intermodal due to a disability. Fritz died in Munster, Indiana, at the age of 61.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fritz, Larry Philadelphia Phillies players Marion Mets players Memphis Blues players Reading Phillies players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Tidewater Tides players Toledo Mud Hens players Visalia Mets players Baseball players from Indiana Arizona State University alumni 1949 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana People from Munster, Indiana Sportspeople from Lake County, Indiana Indiana National Guard personnel

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