Larry Andersen

Larry Eugene Andersen (born May 6, 1953) is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball and current radio color commentator for the Philadelphia Phillies. From 1975 through 1994, Andersen played for the Cleveland Indians (1975, 1977–1979), Seattle Mariners (1981–1982), Philadelphia Phillies (1983–1986, 1993–1994), Houston Astros (1986–1990), Boston Red Sox (1990) and San Diego Padres (1991–1992).

Andersen possessed an average fastball and outstanding slider. Andersen has said that he had better command of his slider than his fastball. He gained notoriety for his 1990 trade to the Red Sox straight up for a minor league prospect named Jeff Bagwell. Andersen played a month in Boston, appearing in 15 games, recording a 1.35 ERA, and helping the Red Sox to a division title. In a 15-year career spent entirely with Houston, Bagwell hit 449 home runs with over 1500 RBI and a .297 average. Bagwell won the 1991 NL Rookie of the Year award, the NL MVP in 1994 and was elected to the Hall Of Fame in 2017.

In a 17-season career, Andersen posted a 40-39 record with 49 saves and a 3.15 ERA in 699 games pitched. His best season was 1987 when he recorded nine wins, 94 strikeouts, and 101 2⁄₃ innings pitched in 67 games, all career highs. He is the only member of the Phillies to play in both the 1983 World Series and the 1993 World Series (Darren Daulton had been called up, but did not make a game appearance in 1983).

In 1995, Andersen was a player/coach for the Reading Phillies after failing to make the Major League club out of Spring Training. He spent the following two seasons as the pitching coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons before joining Philadelphia's broadcast team as a color commentator prior to the 1998 season, filling the position left vacant by the death of Richie Ashburn late in the 1997 campaign. Andersen worked on both television and radio from 1998 to 2006 before moving exclusively to radio in 2007. Early in his broadcasting tenure, Andersen occasionally provided television color commentary when the Phillies were featured regionally on Fox Saturday afternoon telecasts. During the 2007 season, he began doing play-by-play work on Phillies radio broadcasts during the fifth and sixth innings, but returned to full-time color commentary in 2008.

In 2012, Andersen was ranked #12 on the MLB Network Countdown of the Top 25 personalities in Major League Baseball history.

• 1983 World Series
• 1986 National League Championship Series
• 1990 American League Championship Series
• 1993 National League Championship Series
• 1993 World Series