Larry Christenson, the durable right-hander who pitched all 11 seasons of his major league career for the Philadelphia Phillies, was 72 when he died unexpectedly on the morning of August 28, 2026. The Phillies announced his death that day in a statement and in a post on X. “The Phillies are saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of former pitcher Larry Christenson this morning while on a fishing trip with family and friends in Washington state,” the club said.
Known across the sport simply as “LC,” he was drafted by the Phillies in 1972 and never wore another uniform. His ledger from 1973 to 1983 shows an 83-71 record and a 3.79 ERA; 781 batters struck out against him across 1,402 2/3 innings, spread over 243 appearances, 220 of them starts. That start total ranks ninth all-time among Phillies pitchers, and the club reached the postseason six times while he was there.
He was born Larry Richard Christenson in Everett, Wash., on November 10, 1953. At Marysville High School he pitched and played quarterback, and in 1971 he threw back-to-back no-hitters. As a senior in 1972 he went 8-2 with 143 strikeouts and 12 walks in 72 innings, posting a 0.28 ERA.
One day after his high school graduation, the Phillies took him with the third overall pick in the first round of the 1972 draft.
He came to pro ball with a chronic back problem that had been diagnosed as a missing vertebra. A doctor who examined his back when he was 14 advised him to pick up a violin rather than play sports. Severe back spasms also cost him time in his first professional season with Pulaski of the Appalachian League. Only two players were drafted ahead of him in 1972: Dave Roberts, by San Diego, and Rick Manning, by Cleveland.
Christenson laid out his approach to a Washington state newspaper shortly before the 1972 draft: “It’s neat to throw fast balls and strike everybody out.” He added in the same interview, “The last pitch I like to throw to a good hitter for a strikeout is a fast ball right down the middle.”
A Complete Game at 19
Debuts like his do not happen anymore. The New York Mets were the opponent on April 13, 1973, when the 19-year-old took the ball at Veterans Stadium and finished what he started in a 7-1 victory. No pitcher since has matched that complete-game victory by a teenager in a major league debut.
Shortstop Larry Bowa hit leadoff that afternoon and went 2-for-5, the start of a run as Christenson’s teammate that lasted from 1973 to 1981. The two became close friends. “My heart is heavy today,” Bowa said after the death. “‘LC’ was a tremendous teammate, an outstanding pitcher and a true friend. Win or lose, he was always the life of the clubhouse.”
A Grand Slam in the Clincher
He turned into a workhorse for the Phillies of the late 1970s, anchoring the rotation on three consecutive National League East championship teams from 1976 to 1978. Across those seasons he went 45-28 with a 3.65 ERA over 616 innings.
In 1977 he won a career-high 19 games. The exclamation point came September 27, 1977, at Wrigley Field, where a 15-9 win over the Chicago Cubs clinched a second straight division title. Christenson started and earned the win, then launched a grand slam of his own in the seventh inning. The bat made him a genuine threat, and his 11 career home runs put him level with former Phillies pitcher Rick Wise at the top of the franchise’s list for pitchers.
A curious piece of team lore belongs to him, too. He was the starter on May 19, 1979, the only game the Phillies ever played in burgundy uniforms. Several more nights that season had been set aside for the look. Then a Christenson pitch brushed Montreal catcher Gary Carter off the plate in the second inning, and another hit him in the fourth; the benches cleared, 10 straight runs went up for the Expos and Philadelphia lost 10-5. As Christenson later told it, Greg “Bull” Luzinski went upstairs afterward and told owner Ruly Carpenter: “Ruly, I’m never wearing this uniform again. You can release me. You can trade me. I don’t care. I’m never wearing this thing again.” Carpenter retired the uniforms, though photographs of that night still show Christenson in burgundy.
A Ring in 1980 and a Life in Philadelphia
Injuries limited him to 14 starts during the Phillies’ championship season of 1980. He made them count, though, finishing 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA. The World Series did not go his way: he recorded just one out in his Game 4 start and was charged with four runs on five hits in a 5-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on October 18. The franchise’s first title still followed, as Philadelphia recovered to win in six games. A World Series ring came his way with the 1980 club. Three years later, the 1983 club that captured the National League pennant counted him among its members.
Christenson stayed in the Philadelphia area once his playing days ended, built a successful business career and threw himself into local charity work. He backed Phillies Charities, Inc. and other area nonprofits steadily and hands-on, the kind of alumnus who turned up whenever the organization needed a familiar face.
“He was always helping people,” Bowa recalled. “If you needed him, he was there.”
Teammates Remember “LC”
The men who shared a clubhouse with him responded within hours. A friendship of 50 years had just ended, said Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, who had only then learned of the death. “Larry was very special, the guy that kept in touch with all of us, he always had a smile on his face, he never forgot a moment he spent with you,” Schmidt said.
“His passing will leave a hole in all of our hearts,” Schmidt added.
Bowa, a former Phillies manager as well, called him a good hitter for a pitcher. A loose clubhouse was something Christenson knew how to maintain, Bowa said, yet toughness and preparation took over on his pitching days. Bowa also remembered needling Christenson on mound visits after long home runs and getting an unprintable reply.
The club’s announcement extended condolences to his daughters, Claire and Libby, and to his extended family, friends and former teammates, and said what he gave the franchise and the city would not be forgotten.
No cause of death had been released as of September 6, and funeral or memorial arrangements had not been announced either. September 4, 5 and 6 brought the Phillies their first home games since his death, a series against Atlanta that passed without an announced tribute at Citizens Bank Park.