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Larry Herndon
Larry Herndon (cropped).jpg
Herndon with the Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2012
Outfielder
Born: (1953-11-03) November 3, 1953 (age 71)
Sunflower, Mississippi, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
September 4, 1974, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last appearance
October 2, 1988, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average .274
Home runs 107
Runs batted in 550
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Larry Darnell Herndon (born November 3, 1953) is a former American baseball player and coach. People sometimes called him "Hondo." He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1974 to 1988.

Larry was born in Mississippi and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. The St. Louis Cardinals picked him in the 1971 baseball draft. He played for their minor league teams for four years. In 1975, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. With the Giants, he won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1976. He also received the Willie Mac Award in 1981 for his great spirit and leadership.

After the Giants, Herndon played for the Detroit Tigers as a left fielder from 1982 to 1988. He was a key player on the 1984 Detroit Tigers team. This team won the American League championship and then beat the San Diego Padres to win the 1984 World Series.

After he stopped playing, Larry Herndon became a hitting coach for the Tigers from 1992 to 1998. Later, he coached for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, a minor league team.

Growing Up and Early Baseball

Larry Herndon was born in 1953 in Sunflower, Mississippi. He was the oldest of eight children. He started playing baseball as a young boy in a field next to the railroad tracks. By age eight, he knew he wanted to play in the major leagues. His grandmother, Estella, raised him.

When Larry was in sixth grade, he moved with his grandmother to Memphis, Tennessee. He went to Douglass High School. He played baseball for the school team for three years. He was a great hitter, batting .368 as a sophomore, .405 as a junior, and .413 as a senior. He also played basketball and ran track for his school.

Playing Professional Baseball

Starting with the St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals chose Larry Herndon in the third round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft. A scout named Buddy Lewis said Larry had "excellent speed, a good arm, [and was] an outstanding overall athlete." Larry signed with the Cardinals for $25,000. This included a $15,000 bonus just for signing.

He first played for the Cardinals' rookie team in the Gulf Coast League in 1971. His roommate that year was Randy Poffo, who later became the famous wrestler Randy Savage.

In 1972, Larry played for a few different Cardinals minor league teams. He spent the entire 1973 season with the St. Petersburg Cardinals. He played in 141 games, hitting for a .287 batting average and stealing 41 bases.

Larry started the 1974 season with the Arkansas Travelers. He played in 132 games, hitting .285 and stealing 50 bases. In September 1974, he was called up to the main St. Louis Cardinals team. He mostly played as a pinch-runner, scoring three runs. In his only time at bat, he hit a single.

Joining the San Francisco Giants

On May 9, 1975, the Cardinals traded Larry Herndon to the San Francisco Giants. He spent the rest of 1975 with the Phoenix Giants, San Francisco's top minor league team. He played in 115 games, batting .269 and stealing 17 bases.

Larry started the 1976 season in Phoenix but quickly joined the main Giants team. He became their starting center fielder. He played in 115 games and hit .288 as a rookie. He scored 42 runs and stole 12 bases. He also helped turn four double plays. At the end of the season, The Sporting News named him the National League Rookie of the Year. They praised his "tremendous throwing arm, excellent speed and defensive maturity."

After the 1976 season, Larry hurt his leg playing winter baseball. He hurt it again in June 1977 and needed knee surgery. Because of this, he only played in 49 games in 1977, and his batting average dropped to .239.

Larry returned strong in 1978, playing in 151 games, mostly in center field. He hit .259 and stole 13 bases. He also had nine triples, which was one of the best in the league.

In 1979, Larry shared playing time in center, left, and right field. In 1980, he continued to play in different outfield spots. He led all National League outfielders with 11 errors that year. Three of these errors happened in one inning! At the plate, he hit .258 and had 11 triples.

In the 1981 season, which was shorter due to a strike, Larry became the Giants' regular left fielder. He played in 83 games at that position. He also worked out to get stronger. His batting average improved to .288, and he stole a career-high 15 bases. His errors also dropped a lot. He won the 1981 Willie Mac Award for his team spirit and leadership.

Playing for the Detroit Tigers

Power Hitting in 1982 and 1983

On December 9, 1981, the Giants traded Larry Herndon to the Detroit Tigers. He immediately became the Tigers' regular left fielder. In 1982, he played in a career-high 156 games. His hitting improved a lot with the Tigers. His batting average went up to .292, and he hit a career-high 23 home runs. He also had 13 triples and 11 outfield assists. He was second in the American League in triples. Larry also tied a major league record by hitting home runs in four straight times at bat on May 17 and 18, 1982.

Larry was known as a quiet player in Detroit. His manager, Sparky Anderson, said he wished he had more players like Larry. Larry said, "I just want to be one of the guys... I go out and play the game. That's what I'm here for."

Larry's great hitting continued in 1983. He had a career-high .302 batting average. He also set career highs in hits (182), doubles (28), and runs batted in (92). In his first two years with the Tigers, he hit 43 home runs. He said playing regularly and the smaller size of Tiger Stadium helped him hit more home runs. However, he also led the league's left fielders with 15 errors that year.

World Series Champions in 1984

In 1984, Larry Herndon was the starting left fielder for the Tigers. This team won the American League championship and then beat the San Diego Padres in the 1984 World Series. Larry started the 1984 season slowly, but he got much better in August and September. He hit .355 and six home runs in those two months.

His strong hitting continued in the 1984 post-season. In the 1984 World Series, he hit .333. In Game 1 of the World Series, he hit a two-run home run that helped the Tigers win 3-2. In the final Game 5, Larry caught the last out of the game. It was a fly ball hit by Padres star Tony Gwynn. Larry said he "just wanted to squeeze it" and that winning the World Series was the "best feeling I've had since I've been in baseball."

Final Years Playing Baseball

Larry's hitting numbers dropped a bit in 1985 and 1986. But in 1987, his hitting improved again. He had career highs in batting average (.324) and slugging percentage (.520).

On October 4, 1987, in the Tigers' last regular-season game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Larry hit a solo home run. This home run was the only run of the game! The Tigers won 1-0, which meant they won their division championship.

In the 1987 American League Championship Series, Larry hit .333. However, the Tigers lost the series to the Minnesota Twins.

In December 1987, the Tigers signed Larry for another five months. In 1988, an old knee injury made it hard for him to play well in the outfield. He played in only 76 games, mostly as a designated hitter. He had a career-low .224 batting average. His last major league game was on October 2, 1988.

Larry went to spring training with the Oakland A's in 1989. But in March, he announced he was retiring. He had several knee surgeries and said his knee injuries were why he had to stop playing.

Career Statistics

Larry Herndon played in 1,537 games over 14 seasons. He had a .274 batting average. He hit 107 home runs and had 550 RBI. He was a good fielder, with a .972 fielding percentage in the outfield. In the 1984 World Series and the 1984 and 1987 American League Championship Series, he hit .310 with two home runs and six RBI.

Coaching Career

In October 1991, Larry Herndon became the hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers. He held this job for eight years, from 1992 to 1998.

In 2005, Larry was hired as the hitting coach for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. This is a minor league team for the Tigers. He was still coaching for them in 2022.

Personal Life

Larry Herndon and his wife Faye have four children: Latasha, Kamilah, Maya, and Larry Jr. Larry Jr. was born in July 1983. On the day his son was born, Larry had a great game, getting five hits, including a home run!

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