Larry Rosenthal

Lawrence John Rosenthal

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• High School St. Agnes High School (St. Paul)
• Debut June 20, 1936
• Final Game June 22, 1945
• Born May 21, 1910 in St. Paul, MN USA
• Died March 4, 1992 in Woodbury, MN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Larry Rosenthal played eight years in the majors, mostly with the Chicago White Sox. An outfielder, he played a lot at all three positions but was in center field more often than the other two.

He achieved a measure of fame in 1941 when he came close to helping Joe DiMaggio extend his hitting streak. DiMaggio had not gotten a hit in a game against Rosenthal's team, the Cleveland Indians, and Larry hit a triple in the ninth inning. If a teammate had driven Larry home, it would have tied the score and allowed DiMaggio another chance to bat in the tenth inning. Source: Baseball Digest, June 1991.

Rosenthal never had as many as 400 at-bats in a season, but in the seasons where he played the most, he showed some power. He had 10 home runs with the 1939 White Sox, good for third-highest on the team, and with the 1940 White Sox his six home runs were of value for a team that had 73 total - Joe Kuhel had 27 and Moose Solters had 12, so the rest of the team altogether had 34.

Larry, a Minnesota-born player, spent much of his minor league career playing for St. Paul. The book Baseball in Minnesota has a photo of him in a Saints uniform.

Rosenthal is listed # 1 in the Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia for an interesting statistic. As of the time the book was written, he had more walks than any other post-1901 player with fewer than 1,500 at-bats. Additionally, he was # 2 in runs scored among that set of players.

After his minor league career he played town ball in Minnesota, hitting .379 for Winona in 1949. Source: Town Ball: the Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball.

Related Sites

• Larry Rosenthal at the SABR Bio Project