Lawrence William Milbourne (born February 14, 1951) is an American former professionalbaseballutility infielder whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent inMajor League Baseball (MLB) with theHouston Astros (1974–76),Seattle Mariners (1977–1980, 1984),New York Yankees (1981–82, 1983),Minnesota Twins (1982),Cleveland Indians (1982), andPhiladelphia Phillies (1983).

Larry Milbourne
Milbourne in 1976
Infielder
Born: (1951-02-14)February 14, 1951 (age 74) Port Norris, New Jersey, U.S.
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 6, 1974, for the Houston Astros
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1984, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average	.254
Home runs	11
Runs batted in	184
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
Houston Astros (1974–1976) Seattle Mariners (1977–1980,1984) New York Yankees (1981–1982,1983) Minnesota Twins (1982) Cleveland Indians (1982) Philadelphia Phillies (1983)
Career highlights and awards
1974Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Although Milbourne spent most of his big league career playingsecond base, he also playedshortstop,third base, andleft field. Milbourne compiled a career MLBbatting average of .254, with 71doubles, 24triples, 11home runs, and 184runs batted in (RBI), in 989games played. During his playing days, he stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, weighing 161 pounds (73 kg). Milbourne was aswitch hitter who threw right-handed.

Milbourne was born on February 14, 1951, in thePort Norris section ofCommercial Township, New Jersey.^[1] He attended and played baseball atMillville Senior High School in New Jersey from which he graduated in 1969. Hisbatting average improved from .263 as a sophomore to .439 as a senior.^[2] He attendedCumberland County College inVineland, New Jersey.^[3]

On June 18, 1969, Milbourne signed as an amateurfree agent with theBaltimore Orioles.^[4] Baltimore assigned him to theirrookie-levelminor league affiliate, theBluefield Orioles of theAppalachian League. With Bluefield that season, Milbournebatted .305 with 75hits, 10doubles, sixtriples, and fourhome runs in 68games played. Defensively, he playedshortstop. On April 7, 1970, he was released by Baltimore.^[4] At the start of the 1971 season, after being out of professional baseball for a season, Milbourne was signed by theSan Francisco Giants. The Giants assigned him to theirClass-A affiliate, theDecatur Commodores of theMidwest League. In 123 games with the Commodores that season, he batted .301 with 69runs scored, 156 hits, 23 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 38runs batted in (RBIs), and 21stolen bases. In the field, Milbourne primarily playedsecond base, but also saw limited time at shortstop andthird base. He led the league in hits,plate appearances (543), andat-bats (518) that season.^[5]

At the end of the 1971 season, Milbourne was selected by theCalifornia Angels in the minor league draft.^[4] During the 1972 season, Milbourne played his first and only season in the Angels organization. He was assigned to theDouble-AShreveport Captains of theTexas League. He batted .264 with 110 hits, 14 doubles, five triples, and two home runs in 122 games played that year. On defense, he only played second base. After the season, Milbourne was again selected in the minor league draft, this time by theSt. Louis Cardinals.^[4] In 1973, the Cardinals assigned him to theTriple-ATulsa Oilers, where he batted .283 with 104 hits, 13 doubles, six triples, and five home runs in 111 games played. The Cardinals added Milbourne to their40-man roster after the season.^[6]

Milbourne was selected by theHouston Astros from theTulsa Oilers in theRule 5 draft on December 3, 1973.^[7] He started the season with the Astros in 1974. On April 6, against the San Francisco Giants, Milbourne made hisMajor League Baseball (MLB) debut, but did not make a plate appearance.^[8] His offensive debut came on April 9, against theSan Diego Padres, where he went hitless in one at-bat.^[8] Milbourne got his first MLB hit on April 11, against the Padres.^[8] In his first major league season, Milbourne batted .279 with 31 runs scored, 38 hits, two doubles, one triple, and nine RBIs in 112 games played. In the field, he played 87 games at second base, eight games at shortstop, and four games in left field. After the season, Milbourne was named to theTopps All-Star Rookie Team.^[9]

At the start ofspring training in 1975, Milbourne failed to report to the Houston Astros, and his whereabouts were unknown.^[10] However, he did eventually report and made his season debut on April 8, against theAtlanta Braves.^[11] On September 23, in a game against theCincinnati Reds, Milbourne hit his first career MLB home run.^[11] That season, Milbourne batted .212 with 17 runs scored, 32 hits, one double, two triples, one home run, and nine RBIs in 73 games played. Defensively, Milbourne was positioned at second base for 43 games, and 22 at shortstop. He also played in 24 games in the minor leagues that season with the Astros Triple-A affiliate, theIowa Oaks. With the Oaks, Milbourne batted .221 with nine runs scored, 17 hits, three doubles, one triple, one home run, and six RBIs in 86 at-bats. He made the Astros major league roster out of spring training in 1976. On May 2, 1976, in the first game of adoubleheader against theNew York Mets, Milbourne hit a game-winningsingle in the ninthinning.^[12] In the majors that year, he batted .248 with 22 runs scored, 36 hits, four doubles, and seven RBIs in 59 games played. In the field, he played exclusively at second base. In June 1976, Milbourne wasoptioned to the minor leagues.^[13] In the minors that season, he played with the Triple-AMemphis Blues, batting .325 with 45 runs scored, 95 hits, 12 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 31 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 71 games played.

On March 30, 1977, theSeattle Mariners acquired Milbourne from the Houston Astros in exchange forRoy Thomas.^[4][14] Milbourne delivered the Mariners first game-winning hit on April 8, 1977.^[15] During the 1977 season, he batted .219 with 24 runs scored, 53 hits, 10 doubles, two home runs, and 21 RBIs in 86 games played. On defense, he played 41 games at second base, 40 games at shortstop, and one game at third base. He also played one game as the Marinersdesignated hitter. He again made the Mariners roster in 1978.^[16] Milbourne commented on his role as the Marinersutility infielder that year by saying, "I know it's my role to fill in. [...] I'd prefer to play more".^[17] On August 3, Milbourne got another game-winning hit, this time against theMinnesota Twins.^[18] On the season, he batted .226 with 31 runs scored, 53 hits, six doubles, two triples, two home runs, and 20 RBIs in 93 games played. Milbourne played 32 games at third base, 23 games at shortstop, and 15 games at second base. In 10 games that season, Seattle used Milbourne as the designated hitter.

In 1979, Milbourne made the MarinersOpening Day roster for the third consecutive season.^[19] In 123 games played that year, he batted .278 with 40 runs scored, 99 hits, 13 doubles, four triples, two home runs, and 26 RBIs. Defensively, Milbourne played 65 games at shortstop, 49 at second base, and 11 at third base.

In 1980, the Seattle Mariners traded him to the New York Yankees. He was dealt along withJohn Pacella andPete Filson from the Yankees to theTwins forButch Wynegar andRoger Erickson on May 12, 1982.^[20] A few months after, the Twins traded him to the Cleveland Indians. After the 1982 season, the Indians sold him to the Philadelphia Phillies, who sold him back to the Yankees in 1983. After the 1983 season, the Yankees traded him back to the Mariners. Seattle released him following the 1984 season, and Milbourne subsequently retired.

• Houston Astros award winners and league leaders

General references

1. "Larry Milbourne Stats".Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. RetrievedNovember 28, 2010.
2. "Larry Milbourne Minor Leagues Statistics & History".Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2010. RetrievedNovember 28, 2010.

Inline citations

• Career statistics fromMLB, orESPN, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors), orRetrosheet