Larry Whisenton

 

Larry Whisenton was an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, off and on from 1977 to 1982.

Larry Whisenton (his full name) was born July 3, 1956, in St. Louis. He left St. Louis Central High School in 1975 without graduating and was immediately picked by the Braves in the second round of the amateur draft. The UPI reported on June 5:

The second-round pick by the Braves was outfielder Larry Whisenton of St. Louis, Mo., who hit .460 for his high school team. He led his team to the state high school finals and the scouting report on him said he “is a solid hitter with a picture swing.”

Larry was sent to the Kingsport (Tennessee) Braves of the Rookie Class Appalachian League. He played outfield in all but one of the team’s 66 games, hitting .298/.412/.413 with 11 doubles, one triple and four homers in 218 at-bats. While there he completed the needed credits for his diploma.

For 1976 Larry was moved up one level to the Greenwood Braves of the Class A Western Carolinas League. He played right field and generally batted third in the order, hitting .267/.354/.424 in 420 at-bats in 111 games, with 22 doubles, a league-leading ten triples, and eight home runs, and stole 23 bases in 28 attempts. At the end of the season he was named to the league all-star team, but by then he had moved up to the Savannah Braves of the Class AA Southern League. He had an excellent 32 games there, hitting .374/.450/.486 in 107 at-bats. He then moved up to AAA Richmond, but got just one at-bat.

On September 21 the Atlanta Journal said: “There is a youngster down in Savannah right now named Larry Whisenton, who might just be here spraying line drives all over the Stadium in a couple of years.” Larry then played for the Braves’ team in the fall Florida Instructional League, where he hit two triples and a single with five RBI in his first game and had 12 hits, seven runs and seven stolen bases in his first ten games, though I don’t have final stats. The November 27 Sporting News reported:

The Rangers’ [executive VP Eddie] Robinson inquired as to the availability of Braves’ youngsters Dale Murphy and Larry Whisenton and was advised, “forget it.” Whisenton is a rising young outfielder who can swing the bat, while Murphy figures to be the team’s starting catcher next season.

Larry went to spring training 1977 with Atlanta, but the plan all along was for him to go back to the minors. He started the season with AA Savannah, where he got off to a hot start. In Mick Walsh’s column on the Braves’ farm system in the June 23 Marietta Journal he wrote:

 …most of the real prospects in the organization are at Savannah and Greenwood. Larry Whisenton, an outfielder with a .322 average, is perhaps the best prospect of them all…

A week later Atlanta called up Brian Asselstine from Richmond and moved Larry up to take his place there. He was hitting .302/.414/.407 in 278 at-bats, with 26 stolen bases in 33 attempts. On July 30 he got a blurb in the Sporting News:

Larry Whisenton didn’t waste any time impressing his new Richmond teammates. In his first game since being recalled from Savannah (Southern), the 20-year-old outfielder smashed three hits and drove in three runs to help the Braves beat Rochester, 6-4, June 30. “I don’t have a wife or car. All I left back in Savannah are my radio and clothes,” said Whisenton. “I only brought one suitcase of threads up here, but I hope to stick around longer than that.”

Larry hit .340 over his first 50 at-bats with Richmond, but cooled after that and wound up hitting .235/.320/.294 in 170 at-bats. Still, he got called up to Atlanta after the International League season ended. He got into four games there that September, each as a pinch-hitter: he struck out against Don Sutton, struck out against Tom Hume, singled, drove in a run and scored a run against Bo McLaughlin, and struck out against J.R. Richard.

After the season Larry went to the Dominican Republic to play for Estrellas in the winter league there. The Richmond Braves, expecting to have Larry and Eddie Miller in their outfield next season, announced they were removing a chain-link fence from their park to make the field larger and take advantage of the players’ speed, both offensively and defensively. Then on December 31 the UPI reported:

Young Brave Fined, Deported

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (UPI)—Larry Whisenton, a 21-year-old winter league baseball player who belongs to the Atlanta Braves, was ordered deported back to the United States yesterday for possession of marijuana.

The court also sentenced Whisenton, who played for the Richmond Braves last season, to a $1,000 fine. He had pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of 12 grams of marijuana two days ago at the Las Americas airport near the capital.

Whisenton had been playing in the Dominican winter league for the Eastern Stars, now third in the standings and fighting to get into the playoffs.

He was hitting .286 and was second both in home runs with five and runs scored with 28.

The incident doesn’t seem to have upset the Braves too much, though, as on January 18 the Atlanta Journal reported:

 Braves to Meet Fans And Sign Autographs

The Atlanta Braves will meet fans and sign autographs at South DeKalb Mall Saturday from noon until 3 p.m.

More than 20 of the Atlanta baseball players will be in booths stretched the length of the mall.

A partial listing includes new manager Bobby Cox, Chopper Campbell, Pat Rockett, Buzz Capra, Tom Paciorek, Dick Ruthven, Eddie Solomon, Jerry Royster, Rowland Office, Gary Matthews, Phil Niekro, Barry Bonnell, Darrel Chaney, Rod Gilbreath, Larry McWilliams, Clem Hubbard, Joey McLaughlin, Larry Whisenton, Gary Cooper, Joe Nolan, Adrian Devine, Mike Davey and Rick Camp.

A spokesman for the team said the mall appearance will be the first in a week-long blitz in which the Braves will be visiting five cities throughout the Southeast.

Larry was sent to Richmond, as Richmond expected, late in spring training 1978. From the April 4 Richmond Times-Dispatch:

R-Brave Outfielder in New Position, Too

‘Real’ Whisenton in 1978?

By Vic Fulp

Times-Dispatch Sports Writer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—Larry Whisenton arrived at Parker Field in Richmond in the middle of the 1977 season being billed as a high outfield prospect. Since Dale Murphy was the only non-pitching prospect on hand, it was nice to hear of another youngster arriving.

After appearing in 55 games and leaving with a .235 average, there were a lot of questions as to how much of a prospect Whisenton really was. R-Brave Manager Tommie Aaron and Atlanta officials stuck by their opinion.

In fact, the Braves are still sticking by it and Whisenton will be opening the 1978 season with Richmond in left field. But Whisenton and the Braves are promising the real thing this time.

“Whisenton was trying too hard to impress people,” said Aaron of the youngster’s AAA debut last year. “Everybody said he could hit (after posting a .302 mark the first half of 1977 in Savannah).”

His offense hasn’t been a strong suit this spring, but he has been spending more time on his defense. In making the switch from right to left field, Whisenton, already needing work on defense, has had to put in more time in that phase of the game.

“He’s been concentrating more on his defense and has forgotten about his offense,” said Aaron. “He also takes a lot of pitches. He’s going to have to swing, but when he gets in a rut, he’s look, look, look.”

In yesterday’s 5-3, 11-inning win over Tacoma in Hollywood, Whisenton was taking his cuts and had two hits, one a ground-rule double, and drove in a run.

“I went to a shorter bat today,” said Whisenton. “My swing has been a little slow, so I’ve needed a lighter or slower [?] bat to get my swing back. I haven’t been hitting the ball too well. My bat just feels heavy.”

Whisenton feels all will be well once he gets adjusted to the new position. “Once I correct my defense, I won’t have to pay as much attention to that,” he said. “I’ve really worked hard on the new position.

“It’s tougher to play left because you have a blind spot (with the ball coming off the bat behind the batter) and there are more right-handed hitters. You have to be two steps quicker to play left. Right field seems to be more open field to look at.”

Whisenton doesn’t feel he’s really been tested on defense in the spring games. Mostly routine balls hit his way, no line drives or other deep balls to make him run.

“But I am getting my confidence and I think I’ll be ready when we break camp,” said the St. Louis native who throws and bats left.

Atlanta thinks enough of him to have invited Whisenton to the major-league camp for two straight springs. Each of the past two seasons, he also has moved to a higher classification during the season.

Whisenton put his speed to good use last year, stealing 26 bases with Savannah and 11 with Richmond. With Eddie Miller stealing 80 bases in 110 games in AA in the Texas organization and Jimmy Arline, who will join Whisenton and Miller in the outfield, having 26 steals with Savannah, the Braves could be in for plenty of speed—something that was a big minus with Richmond a year ago.

As for his lack of hitting with Richmond, Whisenton said, “I got going bad and started using other peoples’ bats and just couldn’t get going. I was hitting sixth and that’s an RBI spot. Instead of trying to get on base, I was trying for home runs.”

Told of the fence change in right field at Parker Field, the auxiliary fence removed to leave the distance a 360 down the line, Whisenton said that didn’t bother him.

“I’ve got power,” he said. “I can put them out of the park.”

But it’s going to be his speed that will do more to get the R-Braves offense going.

Before too long Larry was moved back to right field. He mostly batted cleanup, and though he hit better than he had in his 1977 Richmond stint, he didn’t do as well as hoped, hitting .241/.348/.381 with 22 doubles, seven triples and ten homers in 473 at-bats, and stole 14 bases but was caught 12 times. Richmond won the IL championship, and after the playoffs Larry was called up to Atlanta.

On September 23 he came into the game late and went 0-for-1, then the next day he got his first start, at home against the Reds, playing right and batting third in place of Gary Matthews; he went 1-for-4 against Tom Hume. After a pinch-running and a pinch-hitting appearance, he got another start for Matthews on the 29^th, this time in Cincinnati, again against Hume. He went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI as the Braves lost 7-2 in the last game of Jim Bouton’s comeback. Then on October 1, the final game of the season, again at Cincinnati, Larry played right and batted fourth, going 1-for-6 in a 14-inning 10-8 loss; he singled off Pedro Borbon after going 0-for-4 against Tom Seaver. In all he went 3-for-16 in six games.

Larry remained on the Atlanta roster over the winter, though a Richmond Times-Dispatch article named him as one of the players likely to be returning to Richmond in 1979. On March 21 he was sent to the minor league camp, and then he did return to Richmond. After 42 games he was hitting .258 with two home runs, so the decision was made to send him down to Savannah; the Braves’ head of player development Hank Aaron being quoted in the Times-Dispatch of June 20 as saying it was “because he’s got an awful lot of ability, and he’s too young to be a designated hitter.”

Larry was called back up to Richmond at the beginning of August to fill the roster after an injury, even though he had hit .223./.300/.313 at Savannah. But the time there seemed to have done him good; from Vic Fulp’s column in the August 19 Times-Dispatch:

For Whisenton, Minors an Education

Young men who drop out of high school before they have enough credits to stash a diploma away in the bottom of a drawer usually wind up pumping gas, working as a bus boy or handling odd jobs on a construction crew.

In 1975, Larry Whisenton left Central High School in St. Louis to enter the working force. Age had caught up with him for athletic eligibility after his junior year.

He wound up with a job in Kingsport, Tenn., and going to school to pick up the needed credits. However, his job was a little different than most—he was a professional baseball player.

That’s far from a 9-to-5 job and requires showing up seven days a week, plus the travel time. But that didn’t stop him. He got the diploma with the help of outfielder Gary Cooper, now at Savannah.

“It was hard, but I’d study after the games and the teacher gave me what I had to have (to stay caught up),” recalled Whisenton.

Reading, writing and arithmetic hasn’t taken up all of Whisenton’s learning time. Despite possessing what folks in the Atlanta organization feel is a natural hitting ability, he’s had to learn how to play the game.

His interest in baseball was born in 1967—he was 11—when the St. Louis Cardinals wound up with the big trophy in the World Series, defeating Boston in seven games.

“I started hearing about Bob Gibson, and that’s when I first started liking baseball,” offered Whisenton. Even then, he didn’t get to see many of the Cards’ games. “I was always too busy playing. I love sports and played basketball most of all…year round…inside and outside.”

He was good at basketball, making honorable mention high school All-America. “I averaged around 10 points a game, but I was mostly a passing guard.”

But he played baseball well enough for Atlanta representatives Al LaMacchia and Paul Snyder to sign him. When first approached about playing baseball for money, Whisenton recalled responding with a “No way!”

“I didn’t know anything about baseball and the farm teams,” added Whisenton, who had it all explained to him.

The scouts felt he could hit and run. On occasions, when chasing a fly ball or running the bases his arms and legs seem to go in four directions at once, but the most important thing is that the ground is covered in good time.

“I did a lot of pitching in high school, but I hated it,” said the 23-year-old left-handed thrower-hitter. “I always had arm problems and sometimes it would take me a week and a half to get back right.”

While spending so much time on the mound and playing in the outer regions of the field on a part time basis, Whisenton never learned much about the outfield. “I didn’t even throw the ball in the fundamental way,” he said.

“There have been times when I’ve had to work on my defense, but I knew I could hit. My outfield was shaky. I had to learn how to play certain areas.”

“Twilight bothers me. I have to really concentrate to pick up the ball. Lights bother me, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ve had to learn rather than produce.”

…Although he posted only a .220 mark at Savannah, ex-R-Brave manager Eddie Haas put to use one of his best talents, instructing hitters.

“Eddie definitely helped me,” said Whisenton, who arrived back at Richmond Aug. 1. Since his return, he has raised his average to .289, hit two homers—a grand slam and a game-winner—and driven in 19 runs.

“In Savannah, I was struggling, but I was working on my stance. I needed some help. I just couldn’t find the momentum to do what I was capable of doing.

“I’ve been swinging the bat pretty nice and I’ve been hitting the breaking ball…(and) I’m seeing the ball and waiting for a good pitch. Since I’ve gotten confidence in my fielding, my game has changed.”

Larry got his Richmond average up to .300 before slipping slightly to .295 at the end of the season, with a .385 OBP and .425 SA in 292 at-bats, and he stole 14 bases in 16 attempts. He then got called up to Atlanta, getting into his first game on September 11 in San Francisco, playing left and batting sixth against John Montefusco. The AP thought it was his major league debut:

Rookie’s debut baffles Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—As major league debuts go, Larry Whisenton’s wasn’t too shabby.

Whisenton, a 23-year-old Atlanta Braves left fielder, almost single-handedly defeated the San Francisco Giants 21 Tuesday night by figuring prominently in both rallies and throwing out two runners.

“He did a little of everything,” said Braves’ Manager Bobby Cox after Whisenton cracked a run-scoring single in the fourth, set up the winning run with a misplayed sacrifice bunt in the seventh and preserved the victory with a throw in the eighth.

“I had to get him in there to see what he could do. Larry has been working real hard on his defense and he obviously has made a big improvement since the spring.”…

“The hit and the throws both made me very happy,” said Whisenton, who was promoted from Richmond, Va., on Sunday. “I batted .295 at Richmond and my fielding was getting better. I don’t think the Giants were testing me—they had to run in those situations.”

Larry got into 13 games that September, sharing left field with Jeff Burroughs and then getting a couple starts in right in place of Matthews. Highlights included his first major league triple, off Mickey Lolich in San Diego, and his first two-hit game, against Mike LaCoss and Fred Norman in Cincinnati. He hit .243/.300/.351 in 37 at-bats.

In 1980 Larry again was in spring training on the Atlanta roster but again got sent down to Richmond. He got off to a poor start. From the May 1 Times-Dispatch:

Richmond Brave roommates Horace Speed and Larry Whisenton used two consecutive rainouts at Pawtucket to talk about hitting. Last night, they proved it wasn’t idle chatter…

Whisenton then stepped up and clouted a drive far over the double-decker fence in right center at the 375-foot mark, a shot that traveled approximately 425 feet. “I’ve been trying to work on my top hand,” Whisenton said of his grip. “I haven’t been hitting the ball well (.152 average).

“I’ve been rooming with Horace and we’ve been talking about it. He’s helped me get my confidence back. I feel ready to shake out of it.”

In late May and early June Larry missed some time with a pulled hamstring; at that point his average was at .235 with still just the one homer. On July 30 (and 31) he hit a bases-loaded triple in the top of the 22^nd inning, and went 3-for-11, as Richmond beat Syracuse 12-6. 

He slightly improved his numbers over the course of the season and ended up at .252/.336/.389 in 409 at-bats, with 17 doubles, six triples and nine home runs. Oddly, he was caught stealing 14 times and was only successful five, just a year after stealing 20 in 23 attempts between the three levels at which he played. His stock had fallen, as shown by the fact that he was not called up to Atlanta in September, and the fact that he was demoted to the Richmond roster for the off-season, and the fact that no other team drafted him once he was made available.

Also, he did not go to spring training 1981 with Atlanta, spending the entire time with Richmond. It was unsure whether he would be a starter, but an injury put him in the opening night lineup, playing left and batting third. From the April 21 Times-Dispatch:

‘Old’ Whisenton Hottest Brave

By Tom Handricourt

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

When Richmond’s “New Wave” Braves open their home season tonight against the Syracuse Chiefs at Parker Field, the fans will definitely need a program to identify most of the players. Thirteen of the 22 players did not play for the Braves last season.

But the hottest Brave of all is not a newcomer. Outfielder Larry Whisenton is in his fifth season with the Braves, splitting some of that time in Savannah and Atlanta. Whisenton is perhaps playing the best baseball of his career at this point, personally carrying the team much of the time on the recent 4-4 road trip.

Whisenton, the Braves’ left fielder, was on fire at the plate during the opening swing. He collected 12 hits in 32 at-bats for a .375 average. Included in that spurt were three home runs—tying him for the International League lead—and eight runs batted in.

In one of the games in Columbus, Whisenton was a one-man demolition crew. He cracked a towering grand slam, a two-run, inside-the-park homer and a single to lead the Braves to a 10-9 victory.

Whisenton hit safely in all eight games, giving him the league’s longest hitting streak. The funny thing about his hot start is that Whisenton saw very little action in spring training. A groin pull had something to do with that, but the team was also taking a good look at the youngsters. There was no guarantee Whisenton would see much action.

“When we came north, he wasn’t necessarily the man out,” explained Richmond manager Eddie Haas. “He had a bad thigh, so I took my time bringing him back. I really hadn’t decided who would be in the starting outfield.”

The situation was solved before the season opened. Bob Porter, who played left during much of the exhibition season, was injured and Whisenton found himself in the opening night lineup. There’s been no getting him out of the lineup ever since, and in recent games, he’s taken over the cleanup spot in the order. It came at a good time for Whisenton.

“That’s the best start I’ve ever had,” Whisenton said. “I got taken off a big league contract this spring, so I have to get other people interested in me. That’s given me extra incentive.

“And Eddie Haas has been driving me. He’s been telling me to concentrate on my hitting. He’s pointed out some mistakes, telling me to keep down on the ball. He’s the kind of manager I can relate to.”

Haas agreed that Whisenton was one of his special projects this spring. And he insists the organization has not given up on Whisenton, who hit .252 in Richmond last season.

“We’ve done a lot of work with him and he’s benefitted from it,” said Haas. “We worked mainly on his hitting. I think he’s still in Atlanta’s plans. I think he can still get a shot at the big leagues.

“The fourth spot is where I put my hot hitters and he’s as hot a hitter as we’ve got. Batting fourth doesn’t mean you have to hit homers. You just have to hit the ball hard. He’s making contact.”

Whisenton’s bat has been a boon to the Braves in the early going. Some of the younger players have gotten off to slow starts, and veterans like Whisenton and Chico Ruiz have helped fill the gaps.

“I don’t feel like I’m old,” said Whisenton, who will be 25 in July. “I still feel pretty young. And right now I’m feeling pretty good. I hope I’ve shown Eddie I’m ready to play and help the team. This is an important year for me. I’ve got to show something. I don’t know if Atlanta has lost interest in me or not.”

If the organization has, Whisenton found a pretty good way of getting it back.

Times-Dispatch, May 4:

Outfielder Larry Whisenton chopped a ball off the plate in batting practice and it came up and hit him in the left eye. There was some hemorrhaging and Whisenton missed his first game of the year. It’s not known how long he will be out of action.

Larry came back five days later. He continued to play regularly, splitting time between left and right, and generally hitting fourth. At the end of August he was called up to Atlanta to replace the injured Brian Asselstine; his Richmond numbers were .271/.391/.431 in 446 at-bats, with career highs in homers (13), RBI (72), and walks (89), and his base-stealing rebounded with 21 in 29 attempts.

Larry made his 1981 major league debut on September 2, pinch-running for Biff Pocoroba. He got into nine games, all coming off the bench, and went 1-for-5 with two walks. This time he was highly regarded enough to be protected on the major league roster over the winter.

Larry got married on February 18, 1982. He then reported overweight to spring training, and much was made of that fact. The March 1 Atlanta Journal mentioned it twice, on one page saying “Brian Asselstine will fight Terry Harper and overweight Larry Whisenton for the sixth outfield spot” and on another reporting that:

Manager Joe Torre [replacing Bobby Cox] put outfielders Ed Miller and Larry Whisenton, both overweight, through extra drills Sunday. Miller needs to lose about eight pounds, Whisenton about 12 pounds.

On March 13 the Journal presented assessments of the players fighting for a roster spot:

Larry Whisenton—Rookie left-handed power hitter whose Richmond statistics (13 home runs, 72 RBI) are deceiving for the same reason as Smith’s [Richmond’s distant right field fence]. Hasn’t impressed here because he reported overweight. Special conditioning attention Torre has given him indicates more than casual interest. He hits line drives and can run. Weaknesses: inexperience, overweight.

On March 19 the Journal reported that “it appears the club now is grooming rookie Larry Whisenton for that role [top lefthanded pinch-hitter],” and on March 22 that the Braves were shopping Miller and Asselstine, which probably meant Larry would make the team. That same day Asselstine was released, and Larry did in fact make the team, though on April 4 the Journal named him the “Atlanta Brave Most Likely To Be a Richmond Brave by June.” Through April 29 Larry was used exclusively as a pinch-hitter, then for a series against the Cubs Torre benched struggling young centerfielder Brett Butler, moved Dale Murphy to center and inserted Larry in left; he did well and at that point was hitting .412, 7-for-17. He got a few more starts in left in mid-May, then another on the 25^th which the Journal reported on the next day:

In all the hours of briefings that followed his appointment as manager of the Atlanta Braves last fall, Joe Torre never heard anything about Larry Whisenton.

“The name never came up,” Torre said. “We never touched on him.”

But from the first day of spring training, when Torre saw Whisenton swing the bat, he has wanted to see more. And after Whisenton went four-for-four in the Braves’ 10-2 rout of the New York Mets Tuesday night, including two-for-two during Atlanta’s eight-run second-inning rally, Torre indicated everyone will be seeing a lot more of him.

And perhaps a lot less of Brett Butler, the highly touted rookie who is batting .228 for the season and .179 since April 22 (12-for-67).

“Whiz will be starting against right-handed pitching for a while as long as he’s hitting,” Torre said. “And Rufino Linares will be in there tomorrow night (tonight) against the lefthander (the Mets’ Pete Falcone).”

This means, for at least the next few days, the lefthanded Whisenton or the righthanded Linares will be in left and Dale Murphy in center. And where does this leave Butler?

“I still believe he can play, and I still believe he can hit,” Torre said. “But he’s pressing so bad that we’ll sit him down for a while.”

And one can only hypothesize about what will happen if Whisenton and Linares respond so well that they make it impossible for Torre to return them to the bench. Might Butler lose his job? Might he be returned to the minor leagues?

“If if gets to the point where we believe it’s counterproductive for him to be here, we might consider that,” said Torre, surprisingly candid on the matter. “But I’m not to that point yet.”

Tuesday’s start was Whisenton’s seventh of the season; in those games, he is batting .455 (10 for 22). Overall, he is hitting .417 (15 for 36).

He, perhaps more than any other player in the organization, benefited individually from Torre’s arrival. He had been in the Braves’ system for seven years, but he no longer was considered an upper-echelon prospect. He got to AAA in his second professional season and was still there in his seventh. “Borderline,” the Braves always called him, and it is not surprising the front office didn’t tell Torre he existed.

But Whisenton was impossible to miss when he reported to spring training 30 pounds overweight. Even so, Torre liked what he saw, albeit not the volume of it.

“This is the first year I’d ever gotten to spring training and had the manager tell me, ‘You’ve got a good chance to make the ballclub,” Whisenton said Tuesday night. “This was the first shot I ever got to make the team in the spring. If not for Joe Torre, I wouldn’t be here now. I would be back down at Richmond or somewhere.”

Torre, who can empathize with weight problems, put Whisenton on a diet, and the 25-year-old outfielder has dropped from 235 to 205. “After I saw the way he swung the bat the first few days of spring training,” Torre recalled, “I told him, ‘If you don’t make the team, you’ll have only yourself to blame. It’ll be because you’re too fat.’ He passed out twice, working so hard to get the weight off.”

A couple days later Butler was sent down and Terry Harper was called up to platoon with Larry. But Harper quickly injured his thumb, and Butler was called back up; for the rest of June Larry, Linares, and Butler shared an outfield spot, with occasionally two of them playing and rightfielder Claudell Washington sitting out. At the end of the month Harper returned, Butler was sent back down, and the outfield became Harper-Murphy-Washington; but Harper soon got injured again and the Larry/Linares platoon was back in business. On July 10 Larry hit his first major league home run, providing the only Brave run in a 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh’s Don Robinson. On the 15^th he hit his second, in the first inning off Fergie Jenkins in Chicago. Meanwhile his batting average had stabilized in the .270-.280 range, with a high OBP due to his knack for drawing walks. From the July 19 Journal:

Whisenton and Linares, although of outstanding offensive potential, are far below average as defensive players, especially in unfamiliar stadiums. Every fly ball to left field in Wrigley Field this weekend was an adventure. Every throw, it seemed, was off target.

Originally, Torre’s plan was to play Whisenton against right-handed pitching, Linares against lefties. The manager had believed Whisenton to be a better defensive player than Linares. But after Whisenton misplayed three balls in one inning Friday, Torre switched to Linares against right-handed pitching Saturday and Sunday…

Larry only got eight starts the rest of the season, as utility infielder Jerry Royster wound up winning the left field job. His final stats, in his only season spent entirely in the majors, were .238/.339/.399 in 143 at-bats, with seven doubles, two triples and four homers, and two stolen bases in four attempts. 

The Braves won their division but lost in the playoffs to the Cardinals in three straight games; Larry pinch-hit twice, striking out against Bob Forsch and grounding out against Joaquin Andjuar. In early November he was dropped from the major league roster back to the Richmond roster, but was not selected in the draft.

In January 1983 Larry was invited to major league spring training by the Braves after Rufino Linares broke an ankle playing winter ball. First baseman Ken Smith beat him out for the last roster spot and he went back to Richmond. An April 12 Richmond Times-Dispatch article reported that Larry would be in right field and bat cleanup, quoting him:

“It looks like a good lineup to me,” said Whisenton, who spent all of ’82 with Atlanta. “Having Brad [Komminsk] in front of me and Jake (Brook Jacoby) behind me is great. I think we’ll give a lot of pitchers trouble with that lineup.”

Through May 24 Larry was hitting .304 with one home run; at that point he had just come back from missing a week after being hit in the elbow with a pitch. He finished the season with a .245 batting average, but walked so much that he had an excellent .393 on-base percentage, and with eight doubles, seven triples and eight homers in just 282 at-bats he had a respectable .408 slugging percentage. He didn’t get called up to Atlanta, though. A September 4 Times-Dispatch article speculating on next year’s team named Larry as one of four “really good bets” to be back in 1984, quoting him as predicting “I’ll be back unless I’m traded or released.”

Larry was right: he went to spring training 1984 with Richmond, apparently never getting a whiff of the major league camp. He mainly played left field and batted fifth during the season; though his batting average went up to .266, his on-base and slugging marks both went down, to .380 and .389, in 293 at-bats. After the season he became a free agent, then re-signed with Richmond.

During spring training 1985 Larry was demoted to AA Greenville, which had replaced Savannah as Atlanta’s Southern League affiliate since the last time Larry was in AA. He had three hits, including a homer, and five RBI on opening night, and in early July he was hitting .323/.454/.407 in 226 at-bats in 70 games. At that point he was called up to Richmond. The Times-Dispatch reported on July 14:

Despite a seven-year residency with the Richmond Braves, Larry Whisenton had a difficult time making it back for his eighth season here. First, he didn’t fit into the Braves’ plans. Then, he didn’t fit into their uniform.

The 29-year-old outfielder finally made it back this past week when he was called up from Class AA Greenville. Whisenton was sent there when he became the odd man out in the Braves’ outfield during spring training.

“It wasn’t that tough going back to Double A,” said Whisenton, who hadn’t played at that level since 1979. “I knew I’d get to play every day. Plus, I knew some of the players there (former R-Braves Leo Vargas, Larry Bradford and Ken Smith, among others).”

In 68 games with Greenville, Whisenton batted .329 with three homers and 31 RBI [doesn’t quite match the official stats]. Still, he was surprised when he was told the Braves had released infielder Glenn Gulliver and were calling him up.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” said Whisenton, who is the Richmond career leader in six offensive categories. “I knew Richmond was doing well. I didn’t think they needed any help. I thought I might get a chance to come here at the end of the year when Atlanta calls up players.”

When Whisenton arrived, his uniform from last year—No. 32—was waiting with his name on it. It was too small, however, and the St. Louis native took the field for the first time Wednesday night wearing a nameless No. 23.

“I still think they (the fans) knew who I was,” said Whisenton. “I’ve been here a few years.”

Whisenton’s return to Richmond was special for a couple of reasons. He had heard so much about The Diamond, and after seven seasons at decaying Parker Field, Whisenton wanted badly to play at the new facility. Also, he spent Richmond’s pennant season of 1982 with Atlanta and is looking forward to a chance to get his first IL championship ring.

“This park is excellent, just like I heard it was,” said Whisenton. “It’s like a big-league park. I don’t think I’ve ever been here when Richmond was in first place this late in the year. I just hope I can help out.”

Larry played in 47 games for Richmond the rest of the year, generally batting fifth and playing left field or DH. He hit .331./.421/.489 in 139 at-bats, with nine doubles, five triples, and one home run. The team finished in fifth place, one half game out of the playoffs.

Despite his solid hitting in both AAA and AA, that was the last professional baseball that Larry played. I don’t know whether he retired, was released, or what, and I don’t know a thing about what he’s been doing since, except that he got re-married in Wisconsin in 1996. He is 65 years old.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/W/Pwhisl101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whisela01.shtml