BASEBALL
1964
Colton signed on August 2, the day of the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the start of the Vietnam War, to an $8,000 bonus contract by Paul Owens, head West Coast scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillies were leading the league at the time by six games, but lost ten straight to blow the pennant.
And so it began.
Stats
W-L ERA IP CG K’s Salary Per Month Annual Income
1965
Eugene Emeralds - Class A Northwest League
12-10 2.89 193 13 151 $500 $2,500
.309 batting average (31 for 99)
Promoted to Phillies 40-man roster (only player from Eugene)
Off-season job:
Sandpaper Salesman, 3M, South San Francisco ($500 a month)
1966
Macon Peaches - Class AA Southern League
11-8 3.77 185 7 125 $600 $3,000
Off-season job:
Season ticker sales, California Seals Hockey, Salesman, Willow Pass (Concord. Ca)
1967
San Diego Padres - Class AAA Pacific Coast League
14-14 3.09 201 12 106 $1,000 $5,000
“Larry Colton is the best pitching prospect I’ve seen this season.”
Ned Garver, scout, Cincinnati Reds
Phillies - Florida Instructional League
2-2 2.03 40 1 30 $500 $750
Ponce Leones - Puerto Rico Winter League
7-3 2.67 81 2 71 $1,200 $4,000
1968
Philadelphia Phillies - MLB National League
“The Phillies traded future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning in hopes that rookie Larry Colton, who won 14 games in AAA last season, will fill the void.”
Sports Illustrated
0-0 4.50 2 0 2 $1,333 $4,000
“In the Phillies clubhouse, Colton glances down at the floor, almost as if he’s embarrassed to be talking to a reporter. In his three weeks in the big leagues, he has been in only one game, giving up one run in two innings against Cincinnati. Someday, he will be a big-league star and reporters will swarm his locker, eager to ask him questions about his famous mother-in-law, Hedy Lamarr.”
Sandy Pawdre, Philadelphia Inquirer
Colton separated his shoulder after he was sucker punched outside a bar in San Francisco on June 4, the night Bobby Kennedy got assassinated.
He never threw another pitch in the big leagues.
Colton with San Diego Padres, 1967
“I always consider the leap between zero games and one to be be the toughest.”
San Diego Padres - Class AAA Pacific Coast League
5-7 3.45 99 5 52 $1,200 $3,600
Off-season job:
Salesman, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Santa Monica
1969
Off-season job:
Fitness Instructor, Jack LaLane Spa, Santa Monica
Eugene Emeralds - Class AAA Pacific Coast League
11-11 4.02 155 1 79 $1,200 $6,000
1970
Tacoma Cubs - Class AAA Pacific Coast League
12-14 4.24 221 2 118 $1,250 $6,250
1975
Portland Mavericks - Class A Northwest League
Pitching
0-2 10.64 11 1 2 $400 $400
Hitting
9 for 30 .300 with three doubles, one homer and six RBI
Colton signed with the Mavericks as a summer job to augment his teacher’s salary. By this point in his career, arm injuries had tanked his once elite pitching abilities, and he converted to DH soon after joining the team. Teams in the Northwest League were allowed only one player with experience over A ball. When Jim Boutin, World Series MVP and author of the controversial Ball Four, decided to make a comeback, the Mavs didn’t hesitate to sign him.
It was bye-bye to Colton, even though he was batting cleanup and leading the team in batting average. Unsure about what would come next (and perhaps desperate for cash, considering his blossoming family), Colton wrote a newspaper story about the two weeks he spent with the Mavs, which would be the last organized baseball he would play in his life.
The article was Colton’s first published writing, and the beginning of his writing career.
Career Statistics
72-67 3.42 1,147 11 704 $33,900
Career minor league batting average: .249
Major League Records
Although his big-league career tied the record for the fewest games (1), Colton was still able to set two Major League records:
Only player in history to be featured on a Topps bubblegum card more years (1968 and 1969) than games played (1)
Only player in history to play in more old-timers games (2) than regular season games (1)