Larry LeGrande
Larry Edwin LeGrande Sr. (May 25, 1939 – April 13, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher and outfielder who played in the Negro leagues and in Minor League Baseball. Baseball career LeGrande graduated from Carver High School in Salem, Virginia. The school did not have a baseball team and he played for the Webster All-Stars in Blue Ridge, Virginia. Scouts for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League noticed LeGrande, and he signed with them after completing a three-week tryout prior to graduating from high school. LeGrande made his professional debut for Memphis in 1957. The next season, he played for the Detroit Stars. He was chosen to participate in the 1958 East-West All-Star Game. In 1959, LeGrande played for the Kansas City Monarchs. At the end of the 1959 season, LeGrande signed with the New York Yankees. They intended for him to play for Greensboro Yankees of the Carolina League in 1960, but due to the attention drawn by the Greensboro sit-ins, the Yankees assigned him to the St. Petersburg Saints of the Florida State League instead. Though LeGrande had a .304 batting average for St. Petersburg, the Yankees released LeGrande during the season rather than