Like any other young man who grew up playing baseball, Larry Gall had dreams of becoming a major leaguer. He even had a shot at playing pro ball in the Detroit Tigers’ system, but it came with a high risk and no guarantee of a high reward.
“When it was my senior year at Scottville (High School), the scout for the Detroit Tigers approached me at a tryout and asked me if I would join the Tigers,” Gall recalls. “I said, ‘Well, yeah. What kind of place do you have for me?’
“He said, ‘Some sort of a minor league, the lowest minors we have. You’d have to work your way up.’ I said, ‘Well, I
do have a scholarship to Central Michigan,’ so I thought maybe that would be the best bet. He said he’d follow me; I never heard from him again.”
Gall played only two seasons for the Chippewas, quitting before the 1957 season because of an injury and the
addition of Tom Tresh at his position. Tresh, who played one year at CMU, was the 1962 American League Rookie of the Year as the New York Yankees’ shortstop.
Are there any lingering regrets for Gall over a possible missed opportunity?
Nope. Not a single one.
“The way things turned out, they turned out great,” he said.
Indeed they did.
Gall channeled his love of baseball into a high school coaching career that put him among the best to ever coach the sport in Michigan.
Gall compiled a record of 532-185 in a career that began with a three-year run at Rose City from 1958-60. He really made his mark at Carman High School, which eventually became Carman-Ainsworth, from 1967-91. He had a record of 513-177 after coming to Carman.
The highlight of Gall’s coaching tenure came in 1981 when Carman reached the state Class A championship game, losing 7-6 in 10 innings to Harper Woods Bishop Gallagher. The Cougars were led by future major leaguer Jeff Hamilton, who would win a World Series ring seven years later with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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