Larry Gura

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Larry Gura bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

Larry Gura : biography

November 26, 1947 –

Lawrence Cyril Gura ( born November 26, 1947, in Joliet, Illinois) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from to . He won a national championship at Arizona State University and spent 16 years in the Major Leagues. He played for the Chicago Cubs (1970–1973, 1985) of the National League, and the New York Yankees (1974–1975) and Kansas City Royals (1976–1985), both of the American League. He was inducted into the inaugural Joliet Hall of Fame in Joliet, Illinois.

He was elected to the American League All-Star team in 1980 when he had his finest season, finishing with an 18–10 record and a 2.95 ERA. Gura won in double figures for seven consecutive seasons for the Royals (1978–1984) compiling 99 wins over that span. He particularly pestered his former team, the Yankees, against whom he went 11–6 in the regular season as a Royal. Gura was 3–0 against them in both 1979 and 1980, with five complete games, and tossed another complete-game victory against the Bronx Bombers in the 1980 American League Championship Series.

Gura finished with a 126–97 career record, 24 saves and an earned run average of 3.76.

Highlights

  • led the American Association with a .733 winning percentage while playing for the Wichita Aeros in 1972
  • led the International League with a 2.14 ERA while playing for the Syracuse Chiefs in 1974
  • led the American League in wins (18) and batters faced (1,175) in 1980