Lawrence Joseph Jansen (July 16, 1920 – October 10, 2009) was an American right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and coach in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. A native of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, he played minor league baseball in the early 1940s before starting his Major League career in 1947 with the New York Giants. Jansen played nine seasons in the big leagues, and was twice an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

, winning 122 games in all. He later coached in the Major Leagues and minor leagues. Jansen is a member of the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

and the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

Early life

Lawrence Jansen was born in Verboort, Oregon, on July 16, 1920. He was raised in the community of Verboort located near Forest Grove in Washington County where he graduated from Verboort High School in 1938. While still in school Jansen started his baseball career playing semi-pro ball. In 1940 Jansen was discovered by a scout and started playing for the

Salt Lake City Bees The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...

, a Class C club at that time. Jansen married the former Eileen Vandehey that year, and they had 10 children. In 1941, he started playing for the San Francisco Seals in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, but in 1943, given the choice between being drafted to fight in World War II or taking a deferment to work on the family dairy farm back in Oregon, he chose the latter. He played semi-pro ball there part-time and returned to the Seals late in the 1945 season.

MLB career

Breaking in as a 27-year old rookie, Jansen became a key member of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

starting rotation from 1947 to 1953, twice winning more than 20 games. He was purchased from the Triple-A Seals after leading the Pacific Coast League in wins (30),

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 ...

(1.57) and

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

(.833) in 1946. In his rookie major league season in , Jansen won 21 of 26 decisions, leading the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

in winning percentage (.808), and finished second in the voting for Rookie of the Year behind the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

. He pitched five innings of one-hit scoreless baseball in the 1950 All-Star Game, which lasted 14 innings. In , he paced the NL-champion Giants with 23 victories and helped lead their improbable August and September comeback against the Dodgers. Jansen was the winning pitcher in the famous game on October 3, 1951, featuring the

Shot Heard 'Round the World The "shot heard round the world" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which sparked the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States. It originates fro ...

. Jansen, however, lost his only two decisions in the 1951 World Series. Jansen also won 19 games (1950) and 18 games (1948) for the New York club. As an indication of the low salaries of even accomplished players in the mid-twentieth century, Jansen worked in a hardware store in Forest Grove, Oregon, during the off-seasons of his best years. Arm miseries kept Jansen from a major role in the Giants'

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

; he spent part of that season inactive, as a coach. His playing career ended after eight appearances with the 1956

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. During his nine-year NL career, Jansen won 122 games and lost 89 (.578) with an ERA of 3.58. He had five 15-win seasons and two 20-win seasons.

Coaching career

Jansen returned to the Pacific Coast League as a player-coach with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

(1955 and 1957) and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

(1958–60). After a call from former teammate

Alvin Dark Alvin Ralph Dark (January 7, 1922 – November 13, 2014), nicknamed "Blackie" and "the Swamp Fox", was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played fourteen years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston/Milwaukee ...

, Jansen returned to the Major Leagues as pitching coach for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in , with Dark as manager. Jansen remained as pitching coach for eleven seasons, and helped to develop future Hall-of-Famers

Juan Marichal Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez (born October 20, 1937), nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1975, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. Known ...

and

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for eight teams from 1962 to 1983, becoming one of the most durable and successful pitchers in histor ...

.Goldstein, Richar
"Larry Jansen, Giants Pitcher, Died at 89"
''The New York Times'', Wednesday, October 14, 2009 During his tenure, the Giants made appearances in the

1962 World Series The 1962 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 Major League Baseball season, 1962 season. The 59th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the defending Amer ...

and

1971 National League Championship Series The 1971 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five series in Major League Baseball’s 1971 postseason that pitted the East Division champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the West Division champion San Francisco Giants. The Pirates wo ...

. He then moved on to his final MLB coaching job, handling pitchers for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in – 73, working for his old Giants manager,

Leo Durocher Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He playe ...

, and then former teammate Whitey Lockman.

Author

In retirement, Larry Jansen (along with his co-author, George Jansen MD and illustrator Karl van Loo) left behind in book form his accumulated wisdom on every aspect of pitching in professional baseball: ''The Craft of Pitching'' (Masters Press, 1977). Previously, Jansen had contributed a section on pitching in ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' 1951 publication How to Play Baseball. Besides Jansen, the publication had other authors on specific topics: "Catching by Ray Schalk; Batting by

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "the Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager (baseball), manager, and coach (baseball), coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. ...

; Base Running by Bernie DeViveiros; First Base by

George Sisler George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. From 1915 through 1930, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the History of t ...

; Second Base by Rogers Hornsby; Shortstop by

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner ( ; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955) was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicknamed "the Flying Dutc ...

; Third Base by

George Kell George Clyde Kell (August 23, 1922 – March 24, 2009) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1943 to 1957, most prominently as a member of the D ...

; Outfield by

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

; and How to Umpire by George Barr."

Awards and honors

Jansen was inducted into the

in 1980. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' selected Jansen as one of Oregon's Fifty Greatest Athletes in 2004. In 2010, Jansen was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

Later life and death

After retiring from baseball, he returned to his hometown Verboort,

, where he sold real estate and lived the remainder of his life in the house he had built in 1951. Lawrence Jansen died in his sleep in Verboort at the age of 89 on October 10, 2009. The cause of death was

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Jansen was survived by his wife Eileen, their ten children and their families.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jansen, Larry 1920 births 2009 deaths American people of Dutch descent National League All-Stars National League (baseball) wins champions Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Cubs coaches New York Giants (baseball) players New York Giants (NL) coaches Seattle Rainiers players Portland Beavers players Portland Beavers managers Salt Lake City Bees players Cincinnati Reds players San Francisco Giants coaches San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitching coaches Baseball players from Washington County, Oregon 20th-century American sportsmen