Barry Latman obit

Pitcher Barry Latman has died

He was not on the list. 

Latman was born in Los Angeles, California, and was Jewish. Latman would not pitch on the Jewish High Holidays. His parents were Nathan (a furniture auctioneer) and Elsie (Snitzer) Latman. He had two younger sisters, Ann Lorraine and Carolee. When he was 10 years old, his parents required that he stop playing baseball for three years, to leave himself time to study for his bar mitzvah. He was nicknamed “Shoulders.” He died on April 28, 2019 in Richmond, Texas.

He attended Fairfax High School, pitching for the baseball team, and playing alongside future major leaguer Larry Sherry. He threw a perfect game in 1954, and was named the Los Angeles All-City Player by the Helms Athletic Foundation. He then attended the University of Southern California on a baseball scholarship.

In the minor leagues in 1955 he pitched in Waterloo, Iowa for the Waterloo White Hawks, in the Class-B Three-I League, and was 18–5 with an earned run average of 4.12, leading the league in innings pitched, and with his 18 wins one behind league leader Mudcat Grant. In 1956, he pitched for the Memphis Chicks in the Double-A Southern Association, and was 14–14 with a 3.85 earned run average. In 1957 he pitched for the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple-A American Association, going 13–13 with an earned-run average of 3.95, and in three starts for the team the following year he was 3–0 with a 0.76 ERA.

Latman played all or part of 11 seasons in the majors, from 1957 until 1967, for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles/California Angels, and Houston Astros.

In 1959 he was 6th in the American League in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (5.596). In 1961 he was 4th in the AL with a .722 winning percentage, as he went 13–5 for the Indians. Latman was an All Star in both 1961 and 1962.

In 1997 he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Through 2010, Latman was 6th all-time in career strikeouts (directly behind Jason Marquis), and 8th in games (344; directly behind Sandy Koufax) and wins (59; directly behind Erskine Mayer) among Jewish major league baseball players.

MLB debut

September 10, 1957, for the Chicago White Sox

Last MLB appearance

August 12, 1967, for the Houston Astros

MLB statistics

Win–loss record                59–68

Earned run average         3.91

Strikeouts           829

Teams

     Chicago White Sox (1957–1959)

    Cleveland Indians (1960–1963)

    Los Angeles / California Angels (1964–1965)

    Houston Astros (1966–1967)

 

Career highlights and awards

     All-Star (1962)