Larry French Lawrence Herbert French Bats Right Throws Left Height 6'1 Weight 195 Born November 1, 1907 Visalia, CA Died February 9, 1987 San Diego, CA

Pitching  

 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 1929 21 HAR   1   1  .500   0   4   0   0   0    6.2              1    3    4      1.35  3.64  270
 1930 22 HAR   0   0  .000   0   5   0   0   0    9.2              0    0    3      0.00  4.27  inf  
 1931 23 HAR  16   7  .696   0  30  30  13   4  229.0  213   90   75   89   64      2.95  3.62  123  
 1932 24 HAR  14   8  .636   0  25  25   6   2  171.2  157   61   52   59   55      2.73  3.20  117
 1933 25 HAR  13  11  .542   0  33  33   9   3  219.0  253  116  100   55   66  13  4.11  4.15  101  

 1934 26 HAR   8  14  .364   0  29  29   4   0  202.0  231  116  102   54   62  12  4.54  4.54  100  
 1935 27 HAR   4  14  .222   0  33  31   5   1  201.1  254  116   98   61   66  14  4.38  4.16   95
 1936 28 HAR   7   5  .583   0  19  17   3   1  111.1  133   65   57   34   35   9  4.61  4.32   94  
 1937 29 HAR   1   1  .500   2  11   2   0   0   22.1   20   14   13   10    8   5  5.24  4.28   82  
 1938 30 HAR  12   4  .750   2  36  22   0   0  152.0  175   89   84   55   90  16  4.97  4.28   86  

 1939 31 HAR   4   7  .364   6  33   1   0   0   53.0   55   24   20   13   28   5  3.40  4.19  123  
 1940 32 HAR   5   6  .455   0  29  12   3   1  102.1   89   49   43   35   52   5  3.78  4.26  113  
 1941 33 HAR   5   5  .500   1  47   1   0   0   77.1   98   53   44   36   46  12  5.12  4.22   82  
 1942 34 HAR   6   7  .462   2  37  21   2   0  142.2  145   72   56   49   84   3  3.53  4.04  114  
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 14 Seasons   96  90  .516  13 371 223  45  12 1700.1 1823  866  745  553  663  92  3.94  4.09  114
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 154 Gm  Avg  11  10  .516   1  41  24   5   1  186.0  199   95   82   61   73  10  3.94 
 Career High  16  14  .750   6  47  33  13   4  238.0  254  116  102   89   90  16  2.73            
+-----------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+-----+----+
 Year Ag Tm    W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR  ERA  lgERA ERA+

Postseason Pitching

 
 Year Tm  OPP WLser   W   L  PCT.  SV   G  GS  CG SHO    IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO  HR   ERA  
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
 1931 HAR MON   W     2   0 1.000   0   2   2   1   0  17.0   11    6    4    7    4   1  3.00
 1933 HAR NDA   L     1   1  .500   0   2   2   1   1  13.0   11    5    4    4    3   1  3.00
 1937 HAR MIL   W     0   0  .000   0   1   0   0   0   1.0    2    0    0    2    1   0  0.00
 1938 HAR STL   W     0   0  .000   0   1   1   0   0   7.0    8    2    1    4    5   1  1.29
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+
               3-1    3   1  .750   0   6   5   2   1  37.0   32   13    9   17   13   3  2.19
+------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+

WLser shows whether the player's team Won or Lost the series.

Appearances on Leaderboards and Awards  

Stats are Year-Value-Rank

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 1931

ERA 1931-2.84-6

Wins 1931-16-2 1932-14-10

Innings Pitched 1931-238.0-3

Complete Games 1931-13-3

Losses 1934-14-6 1935-14-7

Player of the Week, Week 17, 1931.
Pitcher of the Month, August 1931.

Transactions January 1, 1929: Drafted 1st round (2nd overall) by Harlem.

Biography On June 6, 1944, D-Day, a letter from Lt. Cmdr. L.H. French arrived on the desk of National League president Ford Frick. “This is going to be a great show,” French wrote. “It will be the largest of the kind the world has ever seen. And in years to come I will be proud to say that I was there in some capacity or another.” “Sorry that security stops me from telling you more. And when this is over, I'll go back and win the three games I need to fill out 200 wins for the book.” Lt. Cmdr. French never did return to pick up those three wins. He served as landing craft material officer for the Normandy invasion at Omaha and Utah beaches and then went on to the Pacific theater. On November 1, 1907, Larry French was born in the same California town (Visalia) as turn-of-the-century star pitcher Orval Overall. Like his predecessor, French would leave California to become the ace of the Chicago Cubs. As a youngster, French had thoughts of entering medicine and enrolled at the University of California. But Larry also had dreams of baseball and spent every summer since age 16 with semipro teams. In the summer of 1926, French pitched a no-hitter for Eugene, Oregon. In the crowd that day was Roy Mack, Connie's son, who was so impressed with his performance that he wanted to sign him to a contract with Portland. At the time, French was only 18, and his father signed an agreement that he was to give baseball a short trial. If he didn't make good, he would return to Berkeley and continue his studies. Medicine's loss was baseball's gain. After one season in Ogden and two at Portland, French was in the major leagues, making his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Giants on May 5, 1929. Andy Cohen was the first batter he faced and he welcomed French to the big leagues by blasting a home run. French settled down and went on to win the ball game 3-2 in ten innings. French finished his rookie campaign with a 7-5 record and a 4.90 ERA. In his first start of 1930, French had a perfect game against the Cincinnati Reds with two out in the eighth inning before Bob Meusel singled. In the ninth inning, Ethan Allen homered, but French won the game 7-1. For the next five seasons, French became the workhorse of the Pirate staff, winning 17, 15, 18, 18 and 12 games. In addition, Larry logged over 260 innings in each one of those seasons. His 1934 season alarmed the Pirates. Winning six fewer games than the year before and seeing his ERA rise nearly one full run, the Pirates believed that French had lost his stuff. They traded him to the Chicago Cubs after the season with Freddie Lindstrom for Guy Bush, Jim Weaver and Babe Herman. The change of scenery refreshed French, and he helped lead the Cubs to the pennant in 1935, going 17-10. However, he dropped both of his World Series starts as the Cubs lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. A go-getter type, French possessed good business acumen. He was the advisor of many of the Cubs in transactions of all kinds and served as an income tax consultant. Off the field he dabbled in real estate, owning several apartment houses and an auto loan business. In addition, he was the clubhouse badminton champion. The amiable southpaw continued as a big winner for the Cubs throughout the late 1930's. French led the National League in shutouts twice, in 1936 and 1937. French and the Cubs also returned to the World Series again in 1938, but they were swept by the New York Yankees. After hurting his thumb and slipping to 5-14 in 1940, French was sent packing to the Brooklyn Dodgers for the $7,500 waiver price. French developed a knuckleball and rebounded to fashion a 15-4 record. He appeared in the World Series that season with the Dodgers, but French's team once again came up short, losing the World Series again to the Yankees. French said farewell to baseball on September 23, 1942 with a 6-0 shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies. In his last game, French allowed only one hit and faced only 28 batters. French joined the Navy with the onset of World War II and vowed to return to get the three wins he needed for 200 in his career. However, he became a career officer in the Navy and never returned to baseball. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for “exceptional service and resourcefulness as a commanding officer.” He retired in 1969 after 27 years in the service. He died on February 9, 1987 in San Diego, California at the age of 79.