The (Short) Romance of Larry Maxie

At least the honeymoon phase didn't get stale

1964 Topps Larry Maxie (#94) - Card of the Day

There’s a certain romance in the stories of baseball players who make it to the majors for only a very brief time. Their years of dedication, training, and outright hardwork culminate in the fulfillment of a lifetime dream…but a fleeting fulfillment.

If that’s the criteria for baseball romance — and it is for this piece, at least — then Larry Maxie is at least in the running for the title of Most Romantic Baseball Player.

Maxie began his pro career as an amateur free agent with the Milwaukee Braves in 1958. It must have been a heady feeling for the 17-year-old to be joining the organization that had just won the 1957 World World Series.

Of course, signing on the dotted line and pitching in the majors are different propositions and can often be separated by several years. Such was the case for Maxie, who climbed to Triple A by 1961 but then stalled out.

For the rest of that summer and then for the next seven full seasons, Maxie hurled for the Braves’ top minor league team, from Louisville to Toronto to Denver to Atlanta (Crackers) to Richmond. Along the way, the right-hander showed himself to be a capable member of a rotation who could also step in to relieve.

Topps thought the Braves were onto something after Maxie went 7-6 with a 4.05 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 111 innings in 1963. The next year, they dubbed him a Braves rookie star and slotted him on a card with fellow prospect Jim Britton.

But the Braves didn’t pull the trigger on calling Maxie up to the bigs, instead feeding him a few relief appearances sprinkled among his starts, same as always.

Then, in 1967, the organization jumped in with both feet and moved Maxie to the bullpen (mostly). He responded by lowering his ERA from 3.42 to 2.69 while striking out 100 in 127 innings. It was more of the same in duty in 1968, though the results weren’t quite as promising: 6-8, 4.13 ERA in 98 innings across 48 appearances.

That step backwards sent Maxie back to the rotation in 1969, and he responded with an overall Triple-A showing of 8-13, but with a 3.06 ERA.

Why the “overall” qualifier for Maxie’s 1969 season? Well, because in the middle of racking up 147 innings across 24 appearances (22 starts), Maxie found himself in unfamiliar territory: Atlanta.

With Altanta gunning for the first-ever National League West division title, Braves manager Lum Harris brought Maxie in to face the Cubs in top of seventh on August 30, with Chicago leading 4-2. Maxie pitched two innings and gave up a run, with the Braves falling 5-4.

A day later, Maxie pitched the top of the ninth in another Braves’ loss.

And that was it. Maxie would never again step foot on a big league mound. He would spend three more seasons in the Atlanta system before embarking on a long scouting career.

Guess he found a way to extend his major league dream, after all.

And today, Larry Maxie turns 84 years old.

Santo Sends Him Packing

Maxie faced 12 batters in his loooong big league career. The last of those came when Braves manager Lum Harris brought the right-hander in to pitch the top of the ninth against the Cubs at Atlanta Stadium on August 31, 1969.

With the Braves already trailing 8-4, Maxie drew the tall order of keeping more runs off the board while facing Glenn Beckert, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo.

The first two grounded out, while Santo — the very last batter to come to the plate against Maxie — popped out to first base. Not a bad showing against a couple of Hall of Famers and a habitual All-Star, huh?

Less than five years later, Santo was wrapping up his career on the other side of Chicago, as well as starring on a pretty confusing 1974 Topps baseball card.

Read all about that sort of wild card and what led up to it right here.

—

Maxie is one of many players who have made it to the majors for just a handful of games after many years in the minors, or even after almost no time in the minors. Sometimes, guys get a break early on and then never again.

Are there any of these quick-out players who really stoke your imagination? I’d love to hear your picks and thoughts, and I might even pick up on a couple of them to give the “Baseball Card Daily” treatment.

At any rate, thanks for reading.

—Adam

---

Like these stories and want to support them? Now you can contribute any amount you like via PayPal:

… or Buy Me a Coffee: