Career
He stood 5 ft 11 in (180 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds. He was sometimes called Larry, and at one point worked as a hairstylist. Cleveland Indians
Locke was signed originally by the Indians as an amateur free agent in 1953.
He made his big league debut with them at the age of 25 on June 18, 1959 against the Boston Red Sox.
He was the starting pitcher for the Indians, and his first pitch was to Don Buddin. After recording two outs, the first hit he gave up was to Vic Wertz which resulted in Gene Stephens scoring the first run against Locke.
In his debut he pitched for five and two thirds innings and gave up five runs, but still managed to walk away with the no-decision. However his main contribution on his debut was hitting a home run off Frank Sullivan, which resulted in three runs being scored.
This was to be the only home run of his career.
In 1959 overall, he posted a 3.13 European Research Area in 24 games, seven of them started. He struck out 40 batters, walked 41 and posted a record of 3–2. In 1960, Locke posted a mediocre 3–5 record, even though his European Research Area was a fairly low 3.37.
He started 11 of the 32 games he appeared in and struck out 53 batters in 123 innings of work.
He completed the only two games of his career that year as well. Both of them were shutouts.
Compared to his previous two seasons, Locke did not perform as well in 1961, posting a 4.53 European Research Area while giving up 112 hits in 951⁄3 innings. He walked 40 batters and struck out only 37 and posted a 4–4 record.
Career after the Indians
After the 1961 season, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Kindall.
He moved to the Street Louis Cardinals for the 1962 season but after only playing one game with them he moved to the Philadelphia Phillies. Overall, Locke posted a 16–15 record in 165 games. In 4162⁄3 innings pitched, he walked 165 batters and struck out 194 while allowing 432 hits.
As a batter he made 25 hits in 98 at-bats for.255 career batting average.
As a fielder, he posted a.968 fielding percentage.