Lerrin Harris LaGrow (born July 8, 1948) is an American former

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 10 seasons in

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) with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(), (–),

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 ha ...

(),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

(–),

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

(), and

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 ...

().

Biography

Early career

Born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, LaGrow attended

Glendale High School (Glendale, Arizona) Glendale High School is located in Glendale, Arizona, Glendale, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Glendale Union High School District. It was founded in 1911 and is the oldest Arizona high school which still remains on its original site, ...

and then

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 ...

in 1968 and 1969 before beginning his professional baseball career. He was the Southern League's Player of the Year in 1970. The Tigers brought LaGrow up in July 1970, and he compiled a 7.30

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 ...

in 10 relief appearances. After spending the 1971 season in the minor leagues, LaGrow rejoined the Tigers in 1972 and 1973, appearing in 37 games, 34 of which were in relief.

Bert Campaneris bat throwing incident: 1972 ALCS

In 1972, LaGrow had a 1.32 earned run average (

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

of 240) in 16 games, also pitching one scoreless inning in Game 2 of the

1972 American League Championship Series The 1972 American League Championship Series was held October 7–12, and matched the Oakland Athletics () and Detroit Tigers () for the right to go to the 1972 World Series. The first two games were played at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseu ...

against the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. LaGrow's single inning led to one of the most memorable moments of the series. In the bottom of the seventh inning,

Bert Campaneris Dagoberto Campaneris Blanco (born March 9, 1942), nicknamed "Bert" or "Campy", is a Cuban American former professional baseball shortstop, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for four American League (AL) teams, primarily the Kansas City / ...

came to bat, having had three hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases in his first three at-bats. LaGrow's first pitch hit Campaneris in the ankle. Campaneris staggered for a moment, glared at LaGrow, then flung his bat toward the mound; LaGrow was able to duck in time and avoid getting hit. Both benches cleared but no brawl ensued. Tigers' manager

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

had to be restrained by umpires and teammates to prevent him from going after Campaneris. LaGrow and Campaneris were suspended for the rest of the ALCS.

Starting pitcher: 1974–1975

In 1974 and 1975, LaGrow became part of the Tigers' starting rotation, starting 34 games in 1974 and 26 games in 1975. In 1974, LaGrow was 8–19, and in 1975 his record was 7–14.

White Sox relief ace: 1977–1978

In April 1976, the Tigers sold LaGrow's contract to the

. LaGrow pitched in eight games for the Cardinals during the 1976 season with a 1.48 earned run average. He was traded from the Cardinals to the

for

Clay Carroll Clay Palmer Carroll (born May 2, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won three division ...

during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

on March 23, 1977."People in Sports," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, March 24, 1977.
Retrieved November 24, 2022. He became their ace reliever in 1977 and 1978. He appeared in a career high 66 games in 1977 and another 52 in 1978. In 1977, he had 25 saves, third best in the American League. He was also among the league leaders in saves in 1978 with 16. He finished his career with the Dodgers and Phillies. In ten seasons, LaGrow had a 34–55 record in 309 games (67 as a starter), with 19 complete games, two shutouts, 140 games finished, 54 saves, 779 innings pitched, 814 hits, 74 home runs and 312 walks allowed, 375 strikeouts, a 4.11 ERA and a 1.445 WHIP.

References

External links

Lerrin Lagrow
at Baseball Almanac
Lerrin Lagrow
at Baseball Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Lagrow, Lerrin 1948 births Living people Arizona State University alumni Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Los Angeles Dodgers players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Arizona Montgomery Rebels players Toledo Mud Hens players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players