Larry Isbell

Larry Isbell
Career information

Date of birth	(1930-01-08)January 8, 1930
Place of birth	Houston, Texas
Date of death	October 31, 1978(1978-10-31) (aged 48)
Place of death	Bosque County, Texas
CFL status	International
Position(s)	DB/QB
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
College	Baylor
NFL draft	1952 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
Drafted by	Washington Redskins
Career history
As player
1954–1959	Saskatchewan Roughriders
CFL West All-Star	1956, 1957, 1958

Lawrence Dale Isbell (January 8, 1930 – October 31, 1978) was an American baseball and gridiron football player. He was one of the rare players to be All-American in both baseball in football. He was an All-American quarterback in 1951, when he guided the Baylor Bears football team to the Orange Bowl; he threw for 26 career touchdowns in college. In 1952, he was named the All-American catcher by the American Baseball Coaches Association. That season, he set a school record with a .431 average; through 2008, he still ranked second in Baylor Bears baseball annals for best single-season average, behind Mickey Sullivan. Isbell played minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. He also played five years of professional football in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a defensive back with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional playing career

The National Football League's Washington Redskins picked Isbell in the first round of the 1952 NFL Draft, but he opted to sign with Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox. The club sent him straight to AAA and he hit .266/.360/.337 for the Louisville Colonels in 1952, very similar numbers to the other Louisville catcher, former Major Leaguer Al Evans. Back with the Colonels in 1953, Isbell was even better at .317/.386/.397 in 47 games while fielding .995; he outhit Pete Daley, the starter at catcher. In fact, he had the best average of any Louisville batter with 25 or more games player, ahead of Charlie Maxwell, Harry Agganis, and Ken Aspromonte, among others. He also played three games for the Fort Worth Panthers, hitting .200.

Isbell baseball career ended despite those two productive seasons. He then signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and played for five years as an All-Star defensive back as well as a punter, quarterback and wide receiver.

Later life and honors

In 1977, Baylor began handing out the Larry Isbell MVP to its top baseball player. Isbell is a member of both the Baylor Hall of Fame and Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Isbell was living in Waco, Texas and working as a car salesman in Clifton, Texas when he died of a heart attack in 1978. In 2006, Baylor University hung banners around Floyd Casey Stadium honoring their best football players, including Larry Isbell.

References

External links

Texas Sports Hall of Fame profile

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)

1952 College Baseball All-America Team selections

P Don Boenker P James O'Neill C Larry Isbell 1B Billy Werber, Jr. 2B Hal Charnofsky 3B Dick Groat SS Harvey Kuenn O Tom Keough O James Monahan O Junior Wren

Baylor Bears starting quarterbacks

Jack Price (1945–1947)
Adrian Burk (1948–1949)
Larry Isbell (1950–1951)
Cotton Davidson (1952–1953)
Billy Hooper (1954)
Bobby Jones (1955)
Doyle Traylor (1956–1957)
Buddy Humphrey (1958)
Ron Stanley (1959–1960)
Bobby Ply (1960–1961)
Don Trull (1962–1963)
Terry Southall (1964–1966)
Kenny Stockdale (1965)
Alvin Flynn (1967)
Steve Stuart (1968–1969)
Si Southall (1970–1971)
Neal Jeffrey (1972–1974)
Mark Jackson (1975–1976)
Steve Smith (1977–1978)
Mike Brannan (1979–1982)
Jay Jeffrey (1980–1981)
Cody Carlson (1983–1986)
Tom Muecke (1984–1985)
Brad Goebel (1987–1989)
J. J. Joe (1990–1993)
Jeff Watson (1994–1997)
Jermaine Alfred (1996–1999)
Greg Cicero (2000–2002)
Guy Tomcheck (2000)
Kerry Dixon (2000)
Josh Zachry (2000–2002)
Aaron Karas (2001–2003)
Shawn Bell (2003–2006)
Dane King (2004)
Terrance Parks (2004–2005)
Blake Szymanski (2006–2009)
Michael Machen (2007)
Kirby Freeman (2008)
Robert Griffin (2008–2011)
Nick Florence (2009, 2012)
Bryce Petty (2013–2014)
Seth Russell (2014–2016)
Jarrett Stidham (2015)
Chris Johnson (2015)
Zach Smith (2016)

1952 NFL draft first-round selections

Bill Wade Les Richter Ollie Matson Babe Parilli Johnny Bright Ed Modzelewski Larry Isbell Jim Dooley Hugh McElhenny Bert Rechichar Frank Gifford Harry Agganis Bob Carey

Boston / Washington Redskins first-round draft picks

Washington Redskins 1952 NFL Draft selections

Larry Isbell Andy Davis Al Dorow Dick Hightower Jim Clark Ed Kensler Vic Janowicz Hubert Johnston Dick Alban Chet Ostrowski Orlanda Mazza Frank Middendorf Ray Potter Doug Conway Julius Whittman Marv Berschet Gil Bocetti Ed Bartlett Joe Marvin Roger Kinson Dick Jenkins Jim O'Rourke Ken Barfield Ted Kirkland Sal Gero Danny Goode Ben White Ron Engel John Pappa Bob Linn

Draft years 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1950 AAFC 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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