Former All-Star and ERA champion Lee “Buzz” Capra passed away on Monday at age 78. The news was confirmed this afternoon by his alma mater, Illinois State University.
A Chicago native, Capra helped Illinois State to a Division II national championship as a senior in 1969. The 5’10” righty was drafted by the Mets in the 27th round that summer. Capra would reach the big leagues two years later, making three appearances for New York as a September call-up.
Capra bounced between the Majors and Triple-A over the next two seasons, working as a starter in the minors while pitching in a swing role at the MLB level. The Mets sold his contract to the Braves for $25K in Spring Training 1974.
Atlanta used Capra in a relief role for the first six weeks of the season. He drew into their rotation by the middle of May and surprisingly broke out as one of the best pitchers in MLB that year. Capra would fire a complete game shutout in three of his first six starts and allowed three runs or fewer in each of his first 12. The Braves won all 12 games with Capra getting the decision in nine of them while combining for a 1.11 ERA across 89 1/3 innings.
He was selected to the All-Star Game but didn’t appear in the contest. Capra would finish the season with a 2.28 mark and a 16-8 record over 217 innings. He had the lowest ERA in MLB, narrowly topping Hall of Fame teammate Phil Niekro for that honor. Capra finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting and 20th in MVP balloting.
It proved a very brief peak. An arm injury limited Capra to 12 mostly ineffective starts the following year. He missed almost all of the ’76 season and was knocked around in a swing role in 1977. The Braves released him the following spring, and Capra retired as a player. He had a second act as a minor league pitching coach with a handful of organizations into the 1990s.
MLBTR sends our condolences to Capra’s family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.