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Lawrence Edward Dierker
Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: September 22, 1946, Hollywood, CA
Signed: Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Houston Colt .45s 1964; Houston Astros 1965-76; St. Louis Cardinals 1977
As a Manager: Houston Astros 1997-01
With the exception of a brief stint at the end of his pitching career with the Cardinals, Larry Dierker has been a part of the Houston organization since the club drafted him at the age of 17. He made his big league debut on his 18th birthday and would pitch with the Astros for the next 12 seasons. Dierker was a two-time All-Star (1969, 1971) and a 20-game winner in 1969. That was his career year, as he set personal bests for wins, starts (37), complete games (20), innings pitched (305 1/3) and strikeouts (232).
With the exception of a brief stint at the end of his pitching career with the Cardinals, Larry Dierker has been a part of the Houston organization since the club drafted him at the age of 17. He made his big league debut on his 18th birthday and would pitch with the Astros for the next 12 seasons. Dierker was a two-time All-Star (1969, 1971) and a 20-game winner in 1969. That was his career year, as he set personal bests for wins, starts (37), complete games (20), innings pitched (305 1/3) and strikeouts (232).
In his final full season, Dierker pitched a no-hitter on July 9, 1976 against the Expos. He moved to the Astros broadcast booth between 1979 and 1996, and was named the team's manager in 1997. Dierker won Manager of the Year honors in 1998 when he guided the Astros to 102 wins and their second division title in as many years. He'd take the Astros to the NLDS four times between 1997 and 2001, but they never won a series. The Astros retired his #49 in 2002, and he was inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame in 2019.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #373
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Dierker's best year in the majors, and no other season really came close. He was 20-13 with a 2.33 ERA in 39 games and 37 starts. His bWAR for pitchers of 8.6 was second in the National League behind Bob Gibson (#200), who had a mark of 10.4.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #409
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1965-78, 2001-02
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-LDI
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 95 in the Beckett online database as of 9/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 81st of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over a dollar.
The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Dierker's card benefits from Topps getting the all-clear to once again feature the Astros logo on its cards, late into the print run of its 1969 flagship set. The write-up on the back of the card highlights his poise and his pitching arsenal, and lets collectors know that Dierker likes to play golf.
Accuracy Index: It's another +5 for Dierker's card.
1969 Season
As mentioned above, this was Dierker's best year in the majors, and no other season really came close. He was 20-13 with a 2.33 ERA in 39 games and 37 starts. His bWAR for pitchers of 8.6 was second in the National League behind Bob Gibson (#200), who had a mark of 10.4.
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First Mainstream Card: 1965 Topps #409
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1965-78, 2001-02
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-LDI
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 95 in the Beckett online database as of 9/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#410 Al Kaline - Detroit Tigers / #412 5th Series Checklist 426-512
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