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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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Larry Burright, who enjoyed a three-year major league career with the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, died Tuesday after a brief illness according Dodgers team historian Mark Langill. He was 88.
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Burright was born in Roseville, located in west-central Illinois not far from the Iowa border, but attended high school in Alhambra — close to the Dodgers' future home in Chavez Ravine.
Talented in basketball as well as baseball, Burright played both sports at Fullerton College in nearby Orange County. He signed his first professional contract with the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957, and was assigned to Class C Great Falls of the Pioneer League.
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Burright debuted with Los Angeles in 1962, a team that won 102 games under manager Walter Alston. He played 115 games as a rookie, hitting .205 with four home runs and 30 RBIs in 276 plate appearances. Alston mostly used Burright as a defensive backup for his talented infield.
In spring training, Burright was given the nickname "Possum." He later said that teammates Tim Harkness and Duke Snider bestowed the moniker "because I was always smiling but had little to say."
With Jim Gilliam and Maury Wills entrenched at second and third base, respectively, the Dodgers traded Burright to the New York Mets in exchange for pitcher Bob Miller on Nov. 30, 1962.
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Burright went from one of the best teams in the National League to one of the worst. The Mets were a second-year franchise coming off an MLB-record 120-loss season in 1962.
In 41 games with the Mets in 1963, Burright hit .220 — one of the better performances on a Mets team that hit .219 collectively and lost 111 games. Burright also played 57 games at Triple-A Buffalo that season, hitting .224.
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The 1964 season would be Burright's last in the National League. He appeared in just three games with the Mets before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in a deal that sent Bobby Klaus to New York on on July 28, 1964. He returned in 1965 with the Mets' top farm team, but retired midway through the season.
According to Langill, Burright returned to Glendora, Calif. and went into carpentry after his playing career ended. He was a regular at Dodgers reunions, including a 40th anniversary of Dodger Stadium celebration on Opening Day 2002.
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