Baseball Way Back: From Forest View hero to White Sox No. 1 pick
Part 1 of 3
The Northwest suburbs has produced its fair share of major leaguers.
Dave Kingman, Paul Splittorff, Fritz Peterson, Mike Marshall and Dave Otto spring to mind.
Larry Monroe, the Forest View High School standout from Mount Prospect, certainly belongs in that company, and although his major league playing career was brief, his resume is impressive.
Monroe's career as a pitcher amounted to eight games in 1976 with the White Sox.
However, his impact on the team was significant. He was the team's vice president of scouting and minor league operations from 1990 to 1994, before assuming the duties of vice president of free agent and major league scouting through 2000.
He continued his work with the Sox after that, belonging to the advance scouting team for the 2005 World Series champions.
Today, he lives in Palatine and runs a business, Pitcher Potential, that trains young pitchers.
Monroe was born in Detroit, and his first love was the Tigers. As an executive during one minor league draft, he would eventually meet his hero, Al Kaline.
"I'm standing there, thinking about who we're going to pick, and all of a sudden I look next to me and (see) Al Kaline," Monroe said. "I said, 'I have always been a big fan of yours. I was born in Detroit. You're one of the reasons I played major league baseball.'"
He found out that Kaline knew of him, too, having heard about him from former White Sox executive Dave Dombrowski.
Monroe's family moved to Mount Prospect when Larry was in fifth grade, and he played little league in Lions Park.
His pitching talent became apparent when he tried out for the freshman baseball team at Forest View and learned that he was so good, he would be playing for the varsity.
Monroe said Forest View coach Tom Seidel was instrumental in his success, teaching him the 12-6 curveball that became his out pitch.
Monroe's stellar pitching helped carry Forest View to the Mid-Suburban League title in 1973.
A photo in the Herald captioned "HATS OFF TO LARRY" shows Monroe losing his hat as he is mobbed by teammates after Forest View beat Fremd 4-1.
Keith Reinhard wrote: "The name of the game was pitching. Or, more specifically, the name of the game was Larry Monroe. Few youngsters have dominated a league in the manner that this big, right-handed twirler has mastered the Mid-Suburban League in 1973."
"He's a super kid," Seidel said of his 16-year-old junior pitcher, who held Fremd to 3 hits in the championship. "He's truly a gentleman off the field and one of the nicest kids I've had the pleasure of working with."
Monroe finished high school with a 27-9, including a no-hitter, with a 1.09 ERA.
It didn't take long for scouts to notice this young phenom. He remembers as many as 40 to 50 scouts watching him and handing out their cards.
Although he felt the lure of playing for Jerry Kindall at the University of Arizona, "I knew in the back of my mind, if I was picked in the first round, I was going to sign."
The morning of the major league free agent draft, June 5, 1974, as he was getting ready to go to school, he received a call at 7:30 a.m. from Jim Fanning of the Montreal Expos, who said, "We pick ninth. And I'm just wondering if there is any reason why you would not sign with the Montreal Expos if we draft you."
He was then told the Expos would choose him if he were still available.
But the White Sox picked Monroe in the first round before the Expos had a chance.
The first overall pick went to San Diego, which chose future White Sox infielder Bill Almon.
Monroe was the eighth overall pick. Among those taken before him were future major leaguers Lonnie Smith, chosen by Philadelphia with the third pick, Tom Brennan, selected by Cleveland with the fourth, and Dale Murphy, picked by the Braves as a catcher with the fifth.
Future big-leaguers chosen after Monroe included Rod Scurry, Garry Templeton, Lance Parrish, Willie Wilson, Rick Sutcliffe and Rich Dauer.
Monroe said Sox General Manager Roland Hemond watched him pitch during his senior year at Forest View.
Monroe was unveiled at a game at White Sox Park on June 8, 1974 against Boston. Before the game, he was interviewed by Sox announcer Harry Caray.
"They called me, and I went to the ballpark on a Saturday night. They had 40,000 against Boston. I have no idea why. I think it was bat night or ball night. They put me in a uniform, they signed me and took me in front of the crowd. It's quite intimidating when you're 17 years old."