Larry Burright: Early 1960's Mets Second Baseman (1963-1964)

Larry Allen Burright was born on July 10, 1937, in Roseville, Illinois. The five eleven, right hand hitting, second baseman was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957.

MLB Career: After four minor league seasons, he made the 1962 Dodgers out of Spring Training. The team was now relocated in Los Angeles. He played in 115 games while sharing time at second base with Jim Gilliam. 

Koufax No-Hitter: On June 30th, Burright was the second baseman when Sandy Koufax, threw his first no hitter. It came at Dodger Stadium, in a 5-0 win over the expansion New York Mets. Lary collected two hits in the game.

Burright batted .205 with four HRs six doubles & 30 RBIs posting a .256 on base % in 249 at bats. He also hit five triples in the new Dodger Stadium in its inaugural season. 

Mets Career: In December 1962 he was traded to the New York Mets along with Tim Harkness for one of the two pitchers named Bob Miller. He was one of six former Dodgers on the 1963 Mets ball club. 

Nickname: Burright earned the nickname “Possum”. 

He was the 1963 Mets Opening Day leadoff man & second baseman, in the first game of the year against the Cardinals in St. Louis. He went 2-4 that day in the Mets 7-0 loss to Ernie Broglio. 

Eventually. Burright became the backup, to the Mets first All-Star Ron Hunt, at second base. He batted a weak .220 with three RBIs, in 41 games played.

Multi- RBI Game: On May 2nd, he collected a career high three RBIs in a 10-3 win over the Houston Colt 45's at the Polo Grounds. In the 3rd inning he drove in a run with a triple off Don Nottebart. In the Mets four run 7th inning, he hit a two run double off Hal Woodenshick bringing in Gil Hodges & Jim Hickman.

 

Four Runs Scored: On July 15th, in the midst of a six-game hit streak, he scored four runs, in the first game of a double header win over the Colt 45's. In that game he collected two hits & drew a pair of walks.

Overall, he had four hits in that twin bill, while banging out six hits & three walks during the four-game series in Houston. 

At the start of August, he was sent down to AAA Buffalo where he hit .224 in 57 games.

1964: On April 17th, in the first game ever played at Shea Stadium Burright was in the starting lineup, batting eighth & playing second base. He went 0-3 in the loss to the Pirates. 

After going hitless in three games, he was sent down to the minors, never making it back to the big leagues. In 1965 he ended his playing career in at AAA Buffalo after 42 games.

Career Stats: In a brief three-year career, Burright was a lifetime .205 hitter with 73 hits, 4 HRs, 33 RBIs, 8 doubles a .267 on base % & 6 triples.

In 127 games at second base, he posted a .964 fielding % turning 35 double plays, while making 18 errors. He also played in twenty games at short stop & one game at third base.