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Barry Lersch
Barry Lee Lersch (September 7, 1944 – October 4, 2009) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1969–1973) and St. Louis Cardinals in (1974). A right-hander, he was born in Denver, Colorado and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 175 pounds (79 kg) and attended East High School in Denver, Colorado. One of Lersch's great baseball moments was a pitching victory in 1964's annual Midnight Sun Game. He defeated the host Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks by a score of 10–5; 2,500 people were on hand to witness his win. The game ended at 2:34 a.m. local time and is in the record books as one of the latest-finishing games in amateur baseball history. Lersch became a professional later that year when, in December 1964, he signed with the Phillies' organization. He made his MLB debut on April 8, 1969 when he surrendered a one-out two-run walk-off homer to Willie Smith in an eleven-inning Opening Day 7–6 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.[1] He spent four full years (1970 through 1973) in the big leagues. Lersch was primarily a relief pitcher in the majors; of his 169 career games pitched, 53 were starts. He posted an 18–32 won–lost record and a 3.82 career earned run average. All of his decisions (and all but one of his games played) came with struggling Phillies teams. In 5701⁄3 innings pitched, he allowed 536 hits and 172 bases on balls, and struck out 317. He was credited with nine complete games, six saves and one shutout, a two-hitter against the Montreal Expos on September 30, 1972, at Jarry Park.[2] He was traded along with Craig Robinson from the Phillies to the Braves for Ron Schueler at the Winter Meetings on December 3, 1973.[3] Lersch died of a heart attack on October 4, 2009, in Aurora, Colorado. He was 65; his body was donated to medical science. References
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