Leslie Norvin Rohr (March 5, 1946 – November 6, 2020) was an English born baseball player for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the late 1960s. He was born in Lowestoft,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where his father was serving with the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

; his mother was

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. Six months later he moved to

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, with his family, where he grew up, attended high school, and lived. Rohr, a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

listed as tall and , was selected by the Mets in the first round (second pick overall) of the

1965 Major League Baseball Draft The 1965 Major League Baseball Draft is the first year in which a draft took place for Major League Baseball. It was held on June 8–9 in New York City. In Major League Baseball's first Free Agent Amateur Draft, the Kansas City Athletics selec ...

. Rohr played in the minor leagues until being called up to play for the Mets near the end of the season. Rohr's first game was on September 19, 1967; starting against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, he went six full innings and allowed only three runs, one of which was

unearned In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

, and was credited with the 6–3 victory. Eleven days later, he was even more effective, going eight

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings against Los Angeles at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

and gaining a 5–0 victory in which he defeated future Baseball Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. His last game was on September 19, 1969. He stayed with New York Mets for his entire career. In six games, four as a starting pitcher, he compiled a 2–3 won–lost record, no complete games, and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 3.70. In 24 innings pitched, he allowed 27 hits and 17 bases on balls,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

20. The beginning of the end of Rohr's career came early the season in the final innings of a 24-inning game against the Houston Astros. Entering the April 15th game as a relief pitcher in the 22nd inning and pitching through the 24th inning, he pulled a

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

in his pitching arm. After absorbing a 3–2 loss in his third career start against the Dodgers on April 21, he spent the remainder of the season on the disabled list or back in the minor leagues. Rohr made only one more appearance on the mound for the Mets, as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

against the Pittsburgh Pirates late in 1969. The following year, which he spent in the high minors, Rohr was unconditionally released by the Mets when a routine physical discovered a ruptured disc in his lower back, scuttling a proposed trade to the Milwaukee Brewers. Rohr died in November 2020, at the age of 74.1969 'Miracle Mets' pitcher Les Rohr of Billings dies at 74
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References

External links

"Remembering Miracle Mets' march"

The Montana Standard ''The Montana Standard'' is a Lee Enterprises daily newspaper and website in Butte, Montana. In 1971, under the leadership of Betty Danfield, the paper's women's section The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a new ...

website, August 6, 2009 1946 births 2020 deaths Auburn Mets players Baseball players from Montana Durham Bulls players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the United Kingdom Major League Baseball players from England English baseball players Memphis Blues players New York Mets players People from Lowestoft Raleigh-Durham Mets players Sportspeople from Billings, Montana Sportspeople from Suffolk Tidewater Tides players Williamsport Mets players English emigrants to the United States English people of American descent Florida Instructional League Mets players {{Europe-baseball-bio-stub