Larry Yount
| Larry Yount | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | |||
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Born: February 15, 1950 Houston, Texas |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 15, 1971, for the Houston Astros | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 15, 1971, for the Houston Astros | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 0-0 | ||
| Innings pitched | 0 | ||
| Games played | 1 | ||
| Teams | |||
Lawrence King "Larry" Yount (born February 15, 1950 in Houston, Texas) is a former professional baseball player. Yount (whose younger brother is Hall of Famer Robin Yount) holds the unique distinction of being the only pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to appear in the official record books without ever actually having faced a batter. In his only major league appearance on September 15, 1971, he had to leave the game during his warm-up pitches due to injury.
Yount went to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, and was a fifth round draft pick in the 1968 Major League Baseball Draft. He impressed in the Carolina League in both 1968 and 1969 (he had a 2.25 ERA in 1969), and was invited to spring training at the major league camp in 1970 and 1971. After a strong stint with the Astros' AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City, Yount was called up on September 2, 1971. Before he could join the big-league club, however, he had to serve a week-long stint in the military, which he later claimed tightened up his elbow.
With the Astros trailing the Atlanta Braves 4-1 in the Astrodome on September 15, 1971, Yount was summoned to pitch the ninth inning. While warming up, however, Yount's elbow began to stiffen. "I went to the mound and took a couple of tosses," he later said, "but (the elbow) continued to hurt, so I came out." (MLB rules state that any pitcher announced as being in the game must face at least one batter, except in case of injury.) Since he was announced, he was credited for having played that one game, even though he did not actually face a batter. (He is also one of 21 pitchers—including Hall of Fame batter Stan Musial—to pitch at least one game in the majors with zero innings pitched; that is, they did not retire a batter.) Yount went back to the bench, then back to the minors. In spring training in 1972, he was one of the last players cut.
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