Larry Drake (baseball)

Larry Francis Drake (May 5, 1921 – July 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball player whose played for eight seasons (1941–1942; 1944–1949), mostly at the minor league level. He appeared in five Major League games as an outfielder and pinch hitter for the Philadelphia Athletics (1945) and Washington Senators (1948). The native of McKinney, Texas, batted left-handed, threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg). He attended Baylor University.

Larry Drake
Outfielder / Pinch hitter
Born: (1921-05-04)May 4, 1921
McKinney, Texas
Died: July 14, 1985(1985-07-14) (aged 64)
Houston, Texas
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 20, 1945, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
September 10, 1948, for the Washington Senators
MLB statistics
Batting average.222
Hits2
Runs batted in1
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Drake played in one game for Philadelphia during the 1945 season, the last year of the World War II manpower shortage. He started the July 20 game against the Cleveland Indians in left field and struck out in his only two at bats before being replaced by a right-handed pinch hitter.[1] He then returned to the minor leagues. Then, in 1948, he was recalled by Washington in September from the Double-A Southern Association and appeared in four games against his old team, the Athletics. On September 10, he started in right field and collected his only two Major League hits (both singles off Dick Fowler) and lone big-league run batted in, as the Athletics prevailed, 9–6.[2]

In his five MLB games, Drake had 11 plate appearances and nine official at bats. He scored no runs, drew one base on balls and was credited with one sacrifice hit. He handled five total chances in the field without an error.

References

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