Larry Dierker                      Elected 1990

Starting Pitcher
Los Angeles Outlaws (DEN, SEA)
1965-1989

Larry Dierker was the UL's consummate Iron Man. A model of consistency, Dierker won at least 15 games in 17 seasons and threw over 250 innings 11 times. His 25-year resume ranks as the second-longest career in UL history, behind only Joe Torre—perhaps the only comparable legacy. But whereas Torre was plagued with bad knees and was a part-time bench player in his last seasons, Dierker started at least 30 games in 21 of his 25 seasons. Even after his one major injury—a torn labrum in July 1986—wiped out a season and a half and ended his Outlaws career, he started 33 games two more times, at age 41 and 42, in a Seattle swan song, going 25-21 and helping the Rainiers to their first World Series. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start from the beginning.

Lawrence Edward Dierker was born in 1946 in Hollywood, California and grew up in the San Fernando Valley. One of the youngest players ever drafted, he was selected fourth in the 1965 rookie draft by the Los Angeles Outlaws. Larry was put to work in the L.A. rotation immediately. Ironically, for a guy who would be become the poster child of Iron Men across the UL universe, Dierker's rookie year was peppered with a string of injuries. He missed about six weeks to back spasms and a damaged meniscus. But when he was healthy, he dominated. In 24 starts, he logged a 15-5 record and 3.51 ERA with 134 strikeouts.  His 4.1 WAR set a record for 18-year-olds that would stand until Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989 (Dierker's final season).

The Outlaws were a 1955 expansion team that suffered seven losing seasons in it first decade in the league, with below-average pitching. In Dierker's second year, the Outlaws took southpaw Fritz Peterson with the sixth overall pick. For the next decade and a half, the Dierker-Peterson duo would dominate the league as twin workhorses and transform the club from struggling expansion team to the winningest franchise in the league, with 24 winning seasons in 25 years, an average of 90 wins per year, and a Top-3 pitching staff nearly every season.

A durable workhorse, Dierker graduated to the league's elite in 1973, his breakout season. That year, he won 18, led the league with a 2.30 ERA and garnered his first Cy Young Award. It is worth noting that Dierker was 26 that season, but already had 120 wins and over 1200 strikeouts under his belt. In 1974, he successfully defended his Cy Young crown, with a 16-11, 2.51 season. In 1976, at age 29, he had the best season of his career, and one of the best in UL history, going 25-7 with a 2.21 ERA and 273 Ks in 301 innings and earning the first pitching Triple Crown. After this third Cy, he reverted back to his workhorse role, leading the league in innings  in '79, '80, and '81 during a three-year stint with the Denver 14ers. His 23-6, 2.15 year in 1980 fell short of the Cy Young, but was his lowest ERA to date (in Mile High Stadium, no less) and led the 14ers to their first (and as of 1990, only) playoff appearance.

Back in L.A. for a second run, he added two more Cy Youngs, bringing his tally to a record five (matched by Dwight Gooden in 1990). 1983 was a landmark year, in addition to his fourth Cy Young, he passed Antonelli on the career win list, pitched a no-hitter, and collected his 3500th strikeout. In 1985, at age 38, he set a personal best 1.86 ERA , the second lowest ERA since 1970, while posting an 18-6 record. Six times he had winning percentages over .750: the first at age 18 and the last at age 38. He led the league in innings five times, and finished second four more times. He was a four-time ERA champion (two runner-ups), a three-time Win champion (two runner-ups), four-time leader in complete games. His eight All-UL nominations is equalled only by Johnny Antonelli and Gene Conley among pitchers.

It is hard to fully convey his dominance and longevity, so let's try a little exercise. After the 1980 season, Dierker, Bill Singer, and Rick Reuschel were named to the All-Decade Team. Two days later, he was named Pitcher of the Decade. Now, if you subtract those 10 years, Dierker's remaning record was 197-130, 3.21 ERA, 116 CGs, 1978 Ks, 70.2 WAR. That's more wins than Don Wilson, a better ERA than Johnny Podres, more CGs than Conley or Bob Moose, more strikeouts than Herm Wehmeier, and a better WAR than Steve Carlton.

In other words, you could make a solid Hall of Fame case for Larry Dierker after performing a decade-ectomy on his Pitcher of the Decade years!

If there is a blemish at all on this legend's record, it would argubly be his postseaon performance. Unlike Craig Robinson, whose playoff stats actually exceeded his already-stratospheric regular season numbers, Dierker was generally a flop in the playoffs, with a career World Series record of 3-4, 5.05 in 11 games. But that perhaps understates his influence. In the 1981 World Series, he was 2-0 with a pair of shutout wins and 21 Ks as the Outlaws edged Detroit 4-3 for their first championship. The year before he led Denver to its first playoff appearance and in 1988 he led Seattle to its first World Series.

Having said that Dierker is the king of counting stats, with 383 wins (1st), 760 games started (1st), 238 CGs (2nd), 58 shutouts (1st), 5759 IP (1st), 4133 Ks (2nd), and 152 WAR (2nd). He was an Iron Man like no other, the likes of which we may never see again. (TJS/Peter Vays)