Norm Larker

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Norm Larker
Runs batted in
271
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Norman Howard John Larker (December 27, 1930 – March 12, 2007) was an American

player. A first baseman who, early in his career, also frequently played corner outfielder, he appeared in 667 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1958–1963) for four National League clubs, most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers. Larker also spent two years (1965 and 1966) in Nippon Professional Baseball
(NPB). He was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg), and batted and threw left-handed.

Early baseball career

Larker was born in

Rule 5 Draft, but failed to make the 1957 ChiSox roster
and was offered back to the Dodger organization.

Six years in major leagues

Placed on the 28-man, early-season squad of the first-ever edition of the

pinch hitting duty. He was still hitting only .214 on June 30 when his slumbering bat awakened. Starting 23 games at first base and left field in July 1958, Larker raised his batting average to .338 by August 1 on the strength of nine multi-hit games.[1] He finished 1958 with 70 hits and a .779 OPS
.

Then, in his sophomore season, he was a key contributor to the Dodgers'

bases on balls. He batted only .188, but the Dodgers took the series to win the second world championship in their history, and their first in Los Angeles
.

Larker's most productive MLB season came in

Most Valuable Player Dick Groat of the Pittsburgh Pirates before finishing second by two one-thousandths of a point. Still, his .323 mark allowed him to finish ahead of Willie Mays (.319), Roberto Clemente (.314) and Ken Boyer (.304). He finished 15th in NL MVP voting for 1960, but was selected to the Senior Circuit's All-Star team.[2] In the two All-Star games played that season, Larker appeared in each game as a pinch hitter, hitting into a force play
in the first contest, and drawing a base on balls in the latter.

The

Houston Colt .45s with the 23rd overall pick, Larker became the expansion team's starting first baseman in 1962. He batted cleanup in Houston's first-ever major league game on April 10, 1962, going one-for-four with an RBI in an 11–2 Colt .45 win. In 1962, Larker got into 147 games played and hit nine home runs, with 58 runs scored, all career bests. He led the Colt .45s in doubles (19) and on-base percentage
(.358) and tied for the team lead in bases on balls (70).

But at season's end, he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves in a four-player deal that sent starting pitcher Don Nottebart to Houston. The Braves' 1963 regular first-base job was wide open with the trading away of veteran Joe Adcock, but Larker could not claim it. After two months of action and 25 games started, he was hitting only .220, and his production worsened as his playing time became even more limited. He was hitting an anaemic .177 with one home run when the Braves sold his contract to the San Francisco Giants on August 8, 1963. His slump continuing, Larker collected only one hit with the Giants in very limited service over the last two months of the season, his last in the majors.

In his six-season career, Larker was a .275 hitter (538-for-1,953) with 32 home runs and 271 RBI in 667 games, including 227 runs, 97 doubles, 15 triples, and three stolen bases. He also collected a .347 OBP and a solid 1.28 walk-to-strikeout ratio (211-to-165). Defensively, Larker compiled a career .991 fielding percentage at first base (in 483 games) and in the outfield (82 games).

Career in Japan and winter leagues

After spending 1964 with the Giants' Triple-A

Toei Flyers in Japan's Pacific League, where he played in 1965–1966. In 224 NPB games, he batted .267 with 194 hits, 28 doubles, 14 homers and 85 runs batted in. During his career, Larker also played winter ball with the Navegantes del Magallanes club of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, where he captured the batting crown with a .340 average in the 1955–1956 season.[3]

After leaving baseball, Larker entered private business in Long Beach, California, where he'd moved in the late 1950s during his tenure with the Dodgers. He died from cancer in Long Beach at the age of 76, survived by his wife, four sons and eight grandchildren.[4]

References

  1. ^ Retrosheet: 1958 LA N Regular Season Batting Log
  2. ^ 1960 National League Standard Batting
  3. ISBN 978-980-6996-01-4
  4. ^ "The Astros Daily - In Memory of Norm Larker". www.astrosdaily.com. Retrieved 2021-09-25.

External links

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