Lawrence James Monroe (born June 20, 1956) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

, who played 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 ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in 1976.

Biography

Monroe was chosen by the Sox in the first round of the

1974 Major League Baseball draft The 1974 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1974 MLB season. The draft saw the San Diego Padres select Bill Almon first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1974 Major League Baseball ...

with the eighth overall selection. After going 11-14 with a 2.91 ERA for the Knoxville Sox in 1976, he earned a late-season call-up to Chicago. He made his big league debut on August 23 against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, throwing two scoreless, hitless innings of relief. He earned his only decision in the majors on September 30. He started that day's game against the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, going five innings, giving up six hits and four runs (three earned), and walking two to take the loss. Returning to Knoxville in 1977, he continued to play through 1979. After his playing days, Monroe worked for the White Sox in various capacities. When Adrian Garrett replaced

Vern Law Vernon Sanders Law (born March 12, 1930) is an American former baseball pitcher who played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in 1950–51 and 1954–67. He batted and threw right-handed and was l ...

as manager of the Denver Zephyrs in 1984, Monroe was brought in to become pitching coach. He was vice president of scouting and minor league operations from 1990 to 1994 and was vice president of free agent and major league scouting from that time until 2000. Monroe was an integral part of the advanced scouting team, which aided the Chicago White Sox in winning the

2005 World Series The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...

. More recently, he was an advisor to the baseball department through 2020. Currently Monroe runs the personal pitching training business, Monroe Pitching, geared to young men looking to improve their individual talents.http://monroepitching.com monroepitching.com Monroe is the author of ''Best-Kept Secrets of Major League Pitching''. Monroe's son, Grant Monroe, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 38th round of the 2007 amateur draft and again in the 46th round of the 2009 amateur draft.

References

External links

1956 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Sox players Chicago White Sox scouts Baseball players from Detroit Amarillo Gold Sox players Appleton Foxes players Gulf Coast White Sox players Knoxville Sox players Minor league baseball coaches Baseball coaches from Michigan 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub