Larry McWilliams

Larry Dean McWilliams

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 5", Weight 180 lb.
• School Paris Junior College
• High School L.D. Bell High School
• Debut July 17, 1978
• Final Game May 12, 1990
• Born February 10, 1954 in Wichita, KS USA

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Biographical Information

Larry McWilliams graduated from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, TX in 1972. Larry gained early fame in his career when in his rookie season of 1978 he and Gene Garber combined to end Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak. Larry was a first round draft pick in the January 1974 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves, and was the 6th player selected overall.

He went 9-3, 2.81 in 15 starts over the second half of the 1978 season, as one of a number of promising young players to join the Braves at that time - others included 3B Bob Horner, 2B Glenn Hubbard and C Dale Murphy (who would find stardom as an outfielder). However, he could not repeat that level of performance over the next few seasons and by the time that young core reached maturity with a division title in 1982, he had been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for Pascual Perez. He had his best season with the Pirates in 1983, in what was the last gasp of the 1979 World Series-winning team: he was 15-8, 3.25 and struck out 199 batters in 238 innings. He finished 5th in the voting for the 1983 National League Cy Young Award, the only time of his career he received any votes. He had another good season in 1984, going 12-11 with an ERA of 2.93, but by that time the team was in a freefall and wins were hard to come by. He then went into a slow career decline, pitching for four different teams over his last four seasons, and never again posting a winning record from 1985 to 1990, his final appearances coming with the Kansas City Royals. He was a swingman for most of that time, and the lowest ERA he managed to post during that span was 3.90 with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988, in a year when hitting was down across baseball.

Notable Achievements

• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1983)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1983 & 1984)