Larry Delo

Lawrence C. Delo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.
• School Purdue University
• High School McKeesport Technical High School

• Born September 9, 1930 in McKeesport, PA USA
• Died July 1, 2006 in Pittsburgh, PA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Larry Delo pitched for the 1949 Tallahassee Pirates, going 3-8 with a 5.90 ERA. His arm gave out and he went to college. He began working for U.S. Steel in 1956. He spent 24 years there as a first-line foreman in the Mon Valley. In 1982, he was promoted to general foreman of the shipping yards in Duquesne, PA. Against his preference, he was forced to cut crews by U.S. Steel, resulting in conflict with the United Steelworkers. In 1983, he was transferred to Homestead, then demoted to first-line supervisor and had to again work rotating shifts. At the time, he said "I really think a lot of Homestead's labor problems are caused by management...You have to manage by force...rather than by reason and persuasion." He was transferred again in 1984 to Braddock to set up a slabbing mill to reopen. Five months later, he lost his job, one of thousands of steelworkers in the Mon Valley to become unemployed in the 1980s. The family began running a candy franchise out of their home. Delo had four children, three of them had to leave the area during this period of economic distress for the Mon Valley.

Sources: "And The Wolf Finally Came: The Decline of the American Steel Industry" by John Hoerr, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database