The Phillies' first draft selection in June 1972, the 6'4" Christensen won his ML debut in 1973 at age 19. He improved each year, and in 1977 went 19-6, winning 15 of his last 16. Hampered by injuries, he underwent three elbow operations and, in a 1979 charity bike-a thon, broke his collarbone. He was knocked out in the first inning of Game Four of the 1980 WS, but won a divisional playoff game for the Phillies in strike-shortened 1981. He hit 11 career homers.

Phillies Stats: 83-71 record, 3.79 ERA, 243 games, 220 games started (7th all-time), 1,402.2 innings pitched, 1,401 hits, 781 strikeouts (9th all-time)
Phillies Record: Shares record, most home runs hit, pitcher, career, 11
Notable: All 11 ML seasons were with Phillies, most for any pitcher, and second in tenure to Mike Schmidt's 18 seasons. First ML hit was a home run. Won ML debut, 7-1, as a 19-year-old, a complete game five-hitter versus the Mets, 4/13/73
Larry Christenson is a member of Lu Lu Shriners, Plymouth Meeting, PA.