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Frank Strong Lary
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher
Born: April 10, 1930, Northport, AL
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1950 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1954-1964; New York Mets 1964; Milwaukee Braves 1964; New York Mets 1965; Chicago White Sox 1965
Died: December 14, 2017, Northport, AL (age 87)
Frank Lary enjoyed a decade of success with the Tigers, winning 20 games twice and earning three All-Star Game berths in 1960 and 1961. That latter season was probably his best as he went 23-9 with a 3.24 ERA while leading the league with 22 complete games. He won a Gold Glove for his fielding efforts while finishing third in A.L. Cy Young voting and seventh in A.L. MVP voting. Lary can claim three fantastic baseball nicknames with "Taters," "Mule" and the "Yankee Killer." The Yankee Killer nickname bestowed upon him as he went 27-10 against the powerhouse Yankees between 1955 and 1961. Lary led the league three times in innings pitched and three times in complete games, but his heavy workload with the Tigers led to shoulder problems later in his career. Atop the Tigers' pitching rotation between 1957 and 1963, Lary and Jim Bunning did everything they could to pitch Detroit into the World Series, but they never made it. The closest they came was 1961 when the Tigers finished eight games behind the Yankees, despite winning 101 games. Lary was sold to the Mets in May 1964, beginning a year and a half on the move with the Mets, the Braves, back to the Mets and finally with the White Sox.
Lary appeared in 350 big league games and a had a 128-116 record to go along with a 3.49 ERA. He struck out 1,099 over 2,162 1/3 innings pitched. His 21 career shutouts are currently 232nd on the all-time leaders list. Lary briefly served as a minor league roving pitching coach for the Mets before retiring from the game.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #324
The Card / Tigers Team Set
This is Lary's first Topps card, and his rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set. The action shot appears to be a play at third base, with Lary hugging the bag while seemingly kicking the third baseman in the crotch. I thought the defender was a member of the Red Sox, but Sam Mele wore #7 in 1955 and didn't play any third base. My next guess was this could be an Indians player, and sure enough Cleveland third baseman Al Rosen (#35) wore #7 between 1948 and 1956. Lary made it on base twice against the Indians in 1955, on July 4th and again on September 17th with Rosen at third base in both those games. In the July 4th game, Lary singled to left in the bottom of the 11th, but didn't advance. In the September 17th game, Lary singled again, advanced to second on a Harvey Kuenn (#155) bunt and was thrown out trying to score on an Al Kaline (#20) single. The scoring for the putout is 4-2-5, with Rosen applying the tag on Lary. So there you have it - the action photo ended the top of the fifth inning on September 17, 1955 in a game the Tigers would ultimately win against the Indians, 3-1.
1956 Season
This was to be Lary's first 20-win season, as he went 21-13 with a 3.15 ERA for the fifth place Tigers as the ace of their pitching staff. Kaline had a monster season for Detroit, but Lary was arguably the team's MVP as his 6.7 WAR was slightly higher than Kaline's 6.6. Five of his 21 wins came against the Yankees, cementing his "Yankee Killer" nickname.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #154
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1956-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-FL
57 - Lary non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/22.
Sources:
1965 Topps Blog
Building the Set
December 28, 2007 from Dad's eBay purchase - Card #324
I first shared this story with the Roberto Clemente (#33) post, but I'll repeat myself, in an edited version, here. The way my Dad and I finished the 1956 Topps set was somewhat anti-climatic but nevertheless a joyful memory. Leading up to the Christmas of 2007, my Dad (with the help of my Mom) scoured eBay and other online baseball card stores for the remaining 29 cards we needed to complete the set. Throughout the weeks and months leading up to the holidays, he knew we had completed the set but he kept it quiet, wanting to surprise me on Christmas morning. I have no idea, and I'll never know, what the true last card was that he acquired to finish off the set. And I have no record, nor was he able to tell me, how much they had paid for any of these final 29 cards. Absolutely pristine with four sharp corners, this Lary card was one of the final 29.
The Card / Tigers Team Set
This is Lary's first Topps card, and his rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set. The action shot appears to be a play at third base, with Lary hugging the bag while seemingly kicking the third baseman in the crotch. I thought the defender was a member of the Red Sox, but Sam Mele wore #7 in 1955 and didn't play any third base. My next guess was this could be an Indians player, and sure enough Cleveland third baseman Al Rosen (#35) wore #7 between 1948 and 1956. Lary made it on base twice against the Indians in 1955, on July 4th and again on September 17th with Rosen at third base in both those games. In the July 4th game, Lary singled to left in the bottom of the 11th, but didn't advance. In the September 17th game, Lary singled again, advanced to second on a Harvey Kuenn (#155) bunt and was thrown out trying to score on an Al Kaline (#20) single. The scoring for the putout is 4-2-5, with Rosen applying the tag on Lary. So there you have it - the action photo ended the top of the fifth inning on September 17, 1955 in a game the Tigers would ultimately win against the Indians, 3-1.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #154
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1956-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-FL
57 - Lary non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/4/22.
Sources:
1965 Topps Blog
Nice detective work on the action shot.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work. I think this is the best of the Topps set blogs.
Thank you!
ReplyDelete