Lawrence Edward Dierker is a former Major League Baseballpitcher, manager, and broadcaster. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964–1977 for the Houston Colt.45s/Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. He also managed the Astros for five years.
Playing career
Signed by the Houston Colt.45s at age 17, while attending William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, CA. Dierker made his major-league pitching debut on his 18th birthday – and struck outWillie Mays in the first inning. He pitched innings while allowing four runs on five hits, three walks while having three strikeouts; he was credited with the loss while starting his career with a 6.75 ERA. He pitched in two other games that season, both being the last pitcher for the team, although they were both in losses. In 1965, he appeared in 26 games while garnering a 7-8 record, a 3.50 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 146.2 innings. In the following year, he went 10-8 while having a 3.18 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 29 game appearances and 187 innings pitched. He pitched in just 15 games for the 1967 season, though he went 6-5 with a 3.36 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 99 innings. His 1968 season was not too much better as he went 12-15 in 32 games with a 3.31 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 233.2 innings. In 1969, he became the Astros' first 20-game winner, while compiling a 2.33 earned run average, 20 complete games and 232 strikeouts over 305 innings. He was elected to the National League All-Star team that season. He went 16-12 the following season on 37 games while having a 3.87 ERA and 191 strikeouts on 269.2 innings pitched. In 1971, he went 12-6 on 24 game appearances while having a 2.72 ERA and 91 strikeouts on 159 innings pitched while being named to the All-Star Game, although an elbow injury ended his season after August. In 1972, he went 15-8 while having a 3.40 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 31 game appearances and 214.2 innings. He appeared in just 14 games in 1973 due to injuries, going 1-1 while having a 4.33 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 27 innings. He rebounded a bit the following year, going 11-10 with a 2.90 ERA and 150 strikeouts on 223.2 innings and 33 games. He went 14-16 the next year while having a 4.00 ERA and 127 strikeouts on 232 innings and 34 games. 1976 was his last full season of play along with his last with the Astros. He went 13-14 while having a 3.69 ERA and 112 strikeouts on 187.2 innings and 28 games. On July 9 of that year, Dierker no-hit the Montreal Expos 6-0 before 12,511 fans at the Astrodome, recording eight strikeouts along the way. On November 23, 1976, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Detherage and Joe Ferguson. The 1977 season was his last season in baseball. He pitched in 11 games while garnering a 2-6 record with a 4.58 ERA and six strikeouts on 39.1 innings. He garnered his last victory on July 1st with a seven inning, five hit performance while allowing only one run in a 3-1 over the Chicago Cubs. His last appearance was a one inning performance on October 1st against the New York Mets, walking one on no hits and runs. On March 28, 1978, he was released by the Cardinals. As of 2019, Dierker is the last 17-year-old to make his major league debut. On May 19, 2002, the Astros honored Dierker, retiring his No. 49 jersey.
Dierker was elected National League Manager of the Year in 1998. Houston finished in first place in four of the five years Dierker managed the team, failing only in 2000 when the Astros placed fourth. In 1999, Dierker had a medical scare during a game against the San Diego Padres. The Houston manager had been plagued by severe headaches for several days. During the June 13 game, Dierker had a grand mal seizure that rendered him unconscious and nearly killed him. He required emergency brain surgery for a cavernous angioma caused by a tangle of blood vessels in his brain. The game was suspended with the Astros ahead 4-1; it was not completed until the Padres returned to Houston on July 23. After four weeks of recovery, he returned to the helm of the Astros and guided the team through the duration of the season. The Astros won 97 games and a third consecutive National League Central Division title.
Later career
Dierker penned a book entitled This Ain't Brain Surgery, which detailed his baseball career as a pitcher and a manager. He later wrote My Team, in which he ruminated on the greatest players he had been witness to in his years of baseball. After a short period where Dierker had terminated relations with the club, as of 2015, the Astros' website lists Dierker as employed by them in the role of Special Assistant to the President, Reid Ryan. In 2017, Dierker and Benjamin Scardello created a podcast called 49's Fastball in which Dierker shares baseball stories he researched going back to the early years of baseball. The stories include a wide range of subjects and little known "back story" narratives about Players, Stadiums, Records, Promos and Unusual Events, Pitching, Openers and Debuts, Hitting, and All-Star Games.
