Larry Shepard

Larry Shepard
Manager
Born: April 3, 1919(1919-04-03) Lakewood, Ohio
Died: April 5, 2011(2011-04-05) (aged 92) Lincoln, Nebraska
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
1968 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
1969 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Games managed	320
Wins-Losses	164–155
Win/Loss %	.514
Teams
As Manager Pittsburgh Pirates (1968–1969)

Lawrence William Shepard (April 3, 1919 – April 5, 2011) was a manager in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1968 to 1969. During his playing days, Shepard was a right-handed pitcher who played minor league baseball from 1941 through 1956, with time out for military service during World War II. He attended McGill University in Montréal, Québec.

Shepard became a playing manager in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system in 1948, with Medford of the Class D Far West League. His club finished second, thanks to the 22–3 record of his star pitcher – Shepard himself. He then moved up to the Billings Mustangs of the Class C Pioneer League, where, as a pitcher, he won 21, 22 and 24 games in successive (1949–1951) seasons. As a skipper, his 1949 club won the league playoffs.

In 1952 and part of 1953, Shepard took a break from managing, becoming strictly a relief pitcher for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Concurrently, he left the Dodger system for the Pirates organization. He resumed his managerial career in the middle of the 1953 season in the Pittsburgh system, winning the 1956 Western League title with the Lincoln Chiefs. From 1958 through 1966, he managed at the AAA level for Pittsburgh with the Salt Lake City Bees and Columbus Jets, notching three first-place finishes.

In 1967, Shepard reached the major league level when he was named pitching coach of the Philadelphia Phillies. After only one season, he was appointed manager of the Pirates. In his two seasons as skipper of the Bucs, he had a combined record of 164–155, finishing sixth in the ten-team National League in 1968 and third in the NL East in 1969. He was a manager of the legendary Roberto Clemente.

After his firing by the Pirates with seven games remaining in the '69 season, Shepard returned to the coaching ranks. He was the pitching coach of the fabled Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" dynasty under Sparky Anderson from 1970 through 1978, and finished his career in uniform in a similar post with the 1979 San Francisco Giants.

External links

• Baseball Reference – major league managing career
• Baseball Reference – minor league career

Preceded by Cal McLish	Philadelphia Phillies Pitching Coach 1967	Succeeded by Al Widmar
Preceded by Danny Murtaugh	Pittsburgh Pirates Managers 1968–1969	Succeeded by Alex Grammas
Preceded by Harvey Haddix	Cincinnati Reds Pitching Coach 1970–1978	Succeeded by Bill Fischer
Preceded by Herm Starrette	San Francisco Giants Pitching Coach 1979	Succeeded by Don McMahon