Former Italian / American Pitcher: Larry Gura (1970-1985)
He pitched alongside future Mets Gary Gentry & Craig Swan. Gura was selected by the Chicago Cubs as a second round pick in 1969.
He made his MLB debut on April 30th 1970 finishing up a game against the Braves in Atlanta. He would go 1-3 on the year making twenty appearances at the major league level. He spent the majority of the next two seasons in the minors winning 11 games each season. After going 2-4 with the Cubs in 1973 he was traded to the Texas Rangers but two months later was sent to the A.L. New York club, in exchange for Duke Sims. He spent two seasons there going a best 7-8 in 1975 appearing in 26 games.
That off season he was traded to the Kansas City Royals for future Mets announcer, catcher Fran Healy.
Gura would spend ten years with the Royals winning a World Series in 1985, two pennants & five AL Western Divisional titles. In 1976 he was 4-0 with a save & a 2.30 ERA mostly pitching out of the Royals bullpen. He got the start in Game #1 of the ALCS & although he pitched into the 9th inning, he was the losing pitcher. In the 1977 ALCS he was the losing pitcher in Game #4 after surrendering three runs over the first two innings.
In 1978 Gura was third on the Royals fine pitching staff with 16 wins, going 16-4 with a .800 winning % (third best in the league). He pitched in 221 innings, posting a 2.72 ERA (6th best in the AL). In that year’s ALCS he was the winning pitcher in Game #2, beating Ed Figueroa & the A.L. New York club 10-4 at Royals Stadium.
Gura would win double figures for seven straight seasons, winning 18 games twice (1980 & 1982). In the Royals AL pennant season of 1980 he was 18-10 (8th in the league in wins) tossing four shut outs (3rd most in the AL) with a 2.95 ERA (5th in the AL) pitching 283 innings (3rd most in the AL) making 36 starts. That season he made his only All Star appearance & received votes for the CY young award. Post Season: In the ALCS he was the winning pitcher in Game #1 beating Ron Guidry 7-2. He made two appearances in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies but earned no decisions.
Gura was a fine fielding pitcher who led the league with a perfect 1000. fielding %, four times. He was also particularly good against his old A.L. New York team mates going 11-6 in his regular season career. In 1979 & 1980 he went 3-0 against them both times.
After winning 18 games in 1982 he led the league in losses in 1983 with 18 losses (11-18). In 1984 he rebounded to go 12-9 although he posted a 5.18 ERA. In May of 1985 he was released by the Royals & then signed briefly ending his career where it began with the Chicago Cubs.
In his 16 year career he was 126-97 with 801 strike outs, 600 walks posting a 3.76 ERA in 403 games (261 starts).
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