Larry Cox (baseball)

Larry Eugene Cox (September 11, 1947 - February 17, 1990) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach. He played all or part of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1973 until 1982. Cox threw and batted right-handed, standing 5'11" (180 cm) tall and weighing 190 pounds (86 kg).

Early life

Cox, a native of Ottawa, Ohio, was a 1965 graduate of Ottawa-Glandorf High School, located in Ottawa. The following year, he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent.

Playing career

After spending seven full seasons in minor league baseball in the club's farm system, Cox debuted with the Phils on April 23, 1973, appeared in one game, and was shuttled back to the minor leagues. He split the 1974-75 seasons between Philadelphia and the minors. At the end of the 1975 season, Cox was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Sergio Ferrer.^[1] He then spent the entire 1976 campaign back in Triple-A for the Twins, then was purchased by the Seattle Mariners.^[1] Finally, Cox made the majors for five full seasons, playing for the Mariners (1977), Chicago Cubs (1978), the Mariners again (in 1979 and 1980) and Texas Rangers (1981). He returned to the Cubs briefly in May 1982 but spent most of that season as a coach in the minors. He played in 382 career major league games in his career with 182 hits in 825 at bats (a .221 batting average). He hit 12 home runs and had 85 RBIs.

Managerial and coaching career

He remained in the Cub organization as a minor league manager from 1983–87, and became the bullpen coach on Don Zimmer's staff in 1988-89, including the Cubs' 1989 NL West champion team. But 1989 was to be his last in the game. Cox died during the offseason of a heart attack in Bellefontaine, Ohio, at the age of 42.^[2]

Personal life

Cox is survived by his son, Tony, who is the principal of Shawnee Middle School in Lima, Ohio.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)