Larry Lassalle

Lawrence Cyril Lassalle

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 188 lb.
• High School S.J. Peters High School

• Born March 18, 1930 in New Orleans, LA USA
• Died June 5, 1997 in Beaumont, TX USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Lefthanded pitcher Larry Lassalle played in 1950 to 1954. He is most famous for being included in the only six-for-one player trade in major league history.

Signed by the Boston Braves before the 1950 season, he split that year between the Hartford Chiefs of the Eastern League and Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association to go a combined 11-3, 4.37 in 26 games. In 1951, he was in the Western League with the Denver Bears, finishing 9-7, 4.13 in 28 games. he was back with Hartford in 1952, ending up with a record of 8-4, 3.21 in 18 games, as there seemed to be no logical progression to his career. In 1953, with the Braves having relocated to Milwaukee, he spent the year with the Jacksonville Braves of the South Atlantic League, where he had a career season, finishing at 19-5, 2.34 in 29 games.

It was following his big year that he was included in the historic trade. On December 28, 1953, the Braves acquired IF Danny O'Connell from the Pittsburgh Pirates for six players: 3B Sid Gordon, OF Sam Jethroe and P Max Surkont were all established major leaguers, while Ps Lassalle, Curt Raydon and Fred Waters were still minor leaguers. Lassalle was the only one of the group who never played in the big leagues. While O'Connell was a decent player, he never developed into the superstar that would have justified such a haul in return. There has been only one bigger trade since then, when the Oakland A's obtained seven player in return for star pitcher Vida Blue from the San Francisco Giants before the 1978 season. In any case, Lassalle had only one more season left, going 12-7 with three different teams in the Pirates system in 1954: the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association, which at AA was the highest-level he had ever attained, but also one he had already reached in his very first pro season, the Waco Pirates of the Big State League and the Burlington-Graham Pirates of the Carolina League. It's not clear why the Pirates (or the Braves) for that matter did not stick him in AA or AAA for a full season to see what he could do instead of jerking him up and down for no apparent rhyme or reason.

Following the 1954 season, he was taken by the Fort Worth Cats, a Brooklyn Dodgers affiliate, in the minor league portion of the 1954 Rule V draft - but never pitched professionally again. He seemed to have been displeased with the change of organizations, as he sent his signed contract for the 1955 season, back to the Pirates, then failed to report to the Dodgers' spring training. Being with the Pirates had allowed him to play for his hometown team in New Orleans, while the Dodgers were awash with pitching prospects and he was unlikely to get anywhere in their system. The Dodgers suspended him for failing to report, and while they assigned him to the Mobile Bears in the Southern Association, he never joined that team.