Win–loss record 13–21 Role Baseball player Name Larry Bearnarth | Strikeouts 124 Earned run average 4.13 Education St. John's University | |
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Died December 31, 1999, Seminole, Florida, United States | ||
Lawrence Donald Bearnarth (September 11, 1941 – December 31, 1999) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets (1963–66) and Milwaukee Brewers (1971). Bearnarth batted and threw right-handed.
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Personal
Bearnarth was born in a hospital in Manhattan, but lived as a child in Brooklyn and later in Staten Island. He went to St. Peter's High School on Staten Island and played varsity basketball and baseball. He then attended St. John's University, and graduated with a degree in English literature. He died from a heart attack at the age of 58 on New Year's Eve 1999, the day before the new millennium, at his home in Florida.
Playing career
In a five-season career, Bearnarth posted a 13–21 record with a 4.13 ERA and eight saves in 173 games pitched.
Bearnarth was signed by the New York Mets in 1962 after he graduated from St. John's, and went directly to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. A year later, he started his big league career for the Mets, a team coming off an historic 40–120 record in its inaugural season as an expansion team. Despite his 3–8 record in his rookie year, Bearnarth maintained a 3.46 ERA in a career-high 126 1⁄3 innings pitched. During the next three seasons, he divided his playing time between the Mets and Triple-A Buffalo and Jacksonville.
From 1967 to 1970 Bearnarth pitched in Triple-A with the Jacksonville Suns (1967–68) and Tidewater Tides. In 1971 he was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Brewers, retiring at the end of the season. He was able to get the required pension time as an active player (five years then). Then, following his playing career, he became a pitching coach.
Bearnarth coached for the Montreal Expos in 1976 and between 1985 and 1991. Under his guidance, the team's ERA never was higher than 3.92 (in 1986), including the best ERA in Expos' history, at 3.08 (1988). Two years later, his staff led the National League with a 3.37 ERA (1990). He was a minor league pitching instructor in the Montreal farm system between those terms.
In 1993 Bearnarth became the first pitching coach in Colorado Rockies history, continuing in that post until 1995. After that, he scouted during four seasons for the Detroit Tigers (1996–99).