Baseball | 1/4/2022 1:55:00 PM

Written by Tim Gallagher, BVU Assistant Director of Communications

STORM LAKE, Iowa (January 4, 2022) - One of Buena Vista University's most decorated professional athletes, Larry Biittner, died on Sunday, Jan. 2, following a fight against cancer. He was 75.

The 1968 BVU graduate played Major League Baseball for 14 seasons, as he spent time with the Washington Senators, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds.

A native of Pocahontas and a graduate of Pocahontas Catholic High School where he starred in both basketball and baseball, Biittner attended Drake University on a basketball scholarship. However, he missed playing baseball and transferred to BVU to play both sports. The physical education major excelled as a pitcher, hitter, and position player for the late Coach Jay Beekmann and his Beavers.

Biittner hit at a glossy .567 clip as a junior in 1967. He was a force on the mound as well, fashioning an 8-0 ledger in his senior campaign, as the Beavers advanced to the NAIA World Series in St. Joseph, Missouri. The southpaw nicknamed "Butch" was named an All-American in 1968.

"We had scouts at so many of our games in 1968," says Giles Struck, a 1970 BVU graduate who played first base when Biittner pitched. "They came to see 'Butch' play. He was an outstanding pitcher who, when teams chose to pitch to him, could just pepper left-center field with line drives because they were pitching him outside."

Struck laughs, recalling how Biittner once drove a pitch out of Memorial Park. "I think it hit the Armory way beyond the center-field wall," he says.

"'Butch' was the best baseball player I ever played with," says Bob Johnson, a 1970 BVU graduate who batted cleanup, behind Biittner. "He wasn't a homerun hitter, but more of a doubles hitter who hit line drives all over the field."

"He was the leader of that 1968 baseball team," adds Tom Wilkes, a classmate and teammate. "'Butch' was extremely competitive in whatever he did."

In order to clinch a berth in the 1968 NAIA World Series, the Beavers needed to beat Winona State in Storm Lake. Johnson tied the game with a homer in the seventh inning. Biittner then won the contest, 5-3, with a blast over the fence in the ninth.

Following stints in the U.S. Army (he was one of 54 MLB players to be recognized as a veteran of the Vietnam War) and parts of two seasons at various levels of minor league baseball, Biittner broke into the big leagues in 1970 with the Washington Senators, a franchise that relocated and became the Texas Rangers.

In 1974, a fellow Beaver, Jim Fanning, a 1951 BVU graduate who served as general manager for the Montreal Expos, helped arrange for a trade in which the Expos acquired Biittner. He played in Montreal for four seasons before the Chicago Cubs brought him back to the Midwest.

The Iowan proved to be popular among Cubs fans and sportswriters. His best season came in 1977 when he hit .298 while playing in 138 games. Of his 147 hits that season, 28 were doubles while 12 were homeruns, all career highs. In the home opener at Wrigley Field in 1978, Biittner connected for a walk-off solo homerun in a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He played in 1,217 games in the big leagues and hit .273. He played first base and right field, primarily, but also saw action in center field, left field, and on the pitching mound. When he retired from baseball in 1983 at age 36, he ranked 12^th in hits among pinch-hitters, all-time.

Upon his retirement, Biittner worked as a trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He also worked in real estate in Chicago. In 1990, he moved back to his hometown, Pocahontas, opting to reside in a town whose baseball field bears his name. One year later, he joined his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach on the baseball team.

A member of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, Biittner was inducted into the BVU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1972, just four years following his graduation.

Funeral arrangements are pending with Powers Funeral Home of Pocahontas.