Larry Christenson, a durable right-hander who spent his entire major league career — all 11 seasons — with the Philadelphia Phillies and won a World Series ring with the 1980 club, was on a fishing trip in Washington state with family and friends when he died unexpectedly on the morning of Friday, August 28, 2026. He was 72. No cause of death has been released.
The Phillies announced the death that day, both 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.
Everyone in the game called him “LC.” A native of Everett, Wash., he was drafted by the Phillies in 1972 — taken with the third overall pick in the first round — and never wore another uniform. Across 11 seasons from 1973 to 1983, Christenson went 83-71 with a 3.79 ERA and struck out 781 batters in 1,402 2/3 innings 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 during his career.
A Complete Game at 19
His introduction to the majors belongs to a vanished era of baseball. The New York Mets were the opponent at Veterans Stadium on April 13, 1973, and the 19-year-old Christenson finished what he started, a 7-1 win. Accounts of his career published after his death note that no debuting pitcher has thrown a complete game since.
Shortstop Larry Bowa hit leadoff that day and finished 2-for-5. The two were teammates from 1973 to 1981 and 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
Christenson grew into a workhorse for Philadelphia’s late-1970s teams, fronting the rotation on three consecutive National League East championship clubs from 1976 to 1978. He went 45-28 with a 3.65 ERA across 616 innings in those seasons.
He won a career-high 19 games in 1977, his signature year. The exclamation point came September 27, 1977, at Wrigley Field, where the Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 15-9 to clinch a second straight division title. Christenson started and picked up the win, and in the seventh inning he launched a grand slam. Atop the franchise’s list for pitchers sit his 11 career home runs, a total matched only by former Phillies pitcher Rick Wise — proof that the bat in his hands was a genuine threat.
One curious piece of team lore belongs to him, too. Christenson started on May 19, 1979, the only game the Phillies ever played in burgundy uniforms. Several more nights had been lined up for the look that season. Then a pitch from him struck Montreal catcher Gary Carter — and then another one did. Both benches emptied, the Expos put up 10 runs and the final score was 10-5 against Philadelphia. Greg “Bull” Luzinski went upstairs afterward and told owner Ruly Carpenter: “I’m never wearing this uniform again. You can release me. You can trade me. I don’t care.” The uniforms were retired by Carpenter, though Christenson remains in burgundy in the photographs taken that night.
A Ring in 1980 and a Life in Philadelphia
Injuries held him to 14 starts during the championship season of 1980, and he made them count, going 5-1 with a 4.03 ERA. The World Series did not go his way. In his Game 4 start he recorded just one out and was charged with four runs on five hits. October 18 brought a 5-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, but the franchise’s first title followed anyway, clinched in six games by a Philadelphia team that recovered. Three years later, Christenson was part of the 1983 club that captured the National League pennant.
He settled in the Philadelphia area once his playing days ended, built a successful business career and threw himself into local charity work. Phillies Charities, Inc. and other area nonprofits got steady, hands-on help from him — the 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 paid tribute quickly. A friendship of 50 years had just ended, said Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame third baseman, who had only then learned of the death. “Larry was very special, the guy that kept in touch with all of us,” Schmidt said. “He always had a smile on his face, he never forgot a moment he spent with you.”
“His passing will leave a hole in all of our hearts,” Schmidt said.
For a pitcher, he was a good hitter, said Bowa, a former manager of the Phillies as well as a teammate, and a man who knew how to keep a clubhouse loose — then turned tough and prepared on the days he pitched. Mound visits after long home runs, Bowa remembered, were an occasion to needle Christenson, and the reply that came back was unprintable.
Claire and Libby, Christenson’s daughters, were named in the club’s announcement, which extended condolences to them as well as to his friends, his former teammates and the wider family. His contributions to the team and to the city, the Phillies added, would be remembered.
