Larry Burright

Larry Allen Burright
(Possum)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.
• School Fullerton College
• High School Mark Keppel High School
• Debut April 12, 1962
• Final Game April 18, 1964
• Born July 10, 1937 in Roseville, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"During spring training my rookie year in 1962, Tim Harkness and Duke Snider gave me the nickname ["Possum"] because I was always smiling but had little to say." - Larry Burright, Baseball Nicknames

"The highlight of his season occurred on May 2nd against the Houston Colt 45’s. He went 2-4 with a double and a triple and three RBIs in the Mets 10-3 victory." - from a site [1] remembering Burright's 1963 season with the New York Mets

Larry Burright played almost as much second base as Jim Gilliam for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962, a team that won 105 games. However, he hit only .205 (the team hit .268 that year) and was traded after the season, along with nickname-giver Tim Harkness to the New York Mets. He was a year younger than Don Drysdale on the Dodgers. With the Mets, rookie Ron Hunt became the everyday second baseman and Burright backed him up in 1963. Burright hit .220 on a team that hit .219. The Mets in 1963 had quite a few former Dodgers, including The Duke, Harkness, Gil Hodges, Charlie Neal, Roger Craig and Norm Sherry. He finished his career with 3 hitless games in 1964.

Larry and Possum Whitted are the only big leaguers nicknamed "Possum". Burright was born in Roseville, west-central Illinois not far from the Iowa border, but attended high school in southern California.