Larry Gura

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Lawrence Cyril Gura (born November 26, 1947, in Joliet, Illinois) was a left-handed baseball pitcher. He went to 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 and an earned run average of 3.76.

[edit] Trivia

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
had one RBI in 33 major league at bats...it was against pitcher Tom Dettore {Three Rivers Stadium — June 19, 1973 (1)}
led the American League in wins (18) and batters faced (1,175) in 1980
was the losing pitcher in Ben Callahan's only major-league victory {Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum — June 27, 1983}