Lou Bevil
From BR Bullpen
Louis Eugene Bevil born Louis Eugene Bevilacqua
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11½", Weight 190 lb.
- School University of Notre Dame
- Debut September 2, 1942
- Final Game September 13, 1942
- Born November 27, 1922 in Nelson, IL USA
- Died February 1, 1973 in Dixon, IL USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Right-hander Lou Bevil attended the University of Notre Dame as an all-around athlete from Dixon, Illinois High School and pitched one spring with the Irish team before signing as an amateur free agent with the Washington Senators in 1940. The seventeen year old pitcher was assigned to the DeLand Red Hats of the class D Florida State League for his first season in professional baseball, getting off to a rocky start with a 11-21 record and a 4.62 ERA in 234 innings.
Bevil would spend most of the next two seasons in the minors, pitching 256 innings for the Thomasville Lookouts of the Georgia-Florida League in 1941, building a 17-15 record and a 3.80 ERA and jumped up to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the class A Southern Association for the '42 season, going 13-12 but had a 5.32 ERA. However on July 26 of this season, he pitched a seven inning, 3-0 no hitter against the Atlanta Crackers and was also the winning pitcher in the league All-Star game, driving in and scoring a run on two hits in two at-bats.
This performance earned him a late season call-up in the the 1942 season and the parent Washington Senators brought Lou to the big leagues and he made his major league debut with the Senators on September 2, against the Chicago White Sox, but he failed to survive the first inning. Lou would spend the rest of the season with the big league club, appearing in four games, pitching 9.2 innings and picking up one loss to go with a 6.52 ERA. This would be Bevil's only appearance at the top level.
The United States Military Service would be Lou's next stop and the young pitcher would spend the next three years (1943-1945) as a Tank Commander with the Army's 13th Armored Division during World War II. Lou would spend the rest of his baseball career (1946-1950) in the minors and on his return from the service he had a split season with the Orlando Senators and the Chattanooga Lookouts, going 11-4 with a 4.76 ERA.
1947 found Lou at Orlando again, this time as the club's player-manager, personally ringing up a 4-3 record and a 2.72 ERA while pitching 53 innings. Lou hit at a .304 clip in 441 at-bats while appearing in 122 games in the outfield and brought the club in at a fourth place finish at 71-67. Bevil was back at the same job in 1948. He guided the Senators to a 90-50 record and the league championship, and personally was one of the league's top hurlers with a 19-7 record with a 3.41 ERA, and also hit for a .365 average with five home runs in 192 at-bats, eight at-bats shy of being the league leader.
Bevil chose to get out of the manager's position in 1949, signing with the Daytona Beach Islanders of the same league in 1949 and again he was to much for this level, going 19-11 on the mound with a 2.40 ERA, while pitching 251 innings. On the hitters side he marked up a .291 average along with 18 home runs, while appearing in 128 games in the outfield. Lou would try the same deal with the Anniston Rams of the class B Southeastern League in 1950, but fall to a 6-9 pitching record and a .291 batting average. At the age of 27 and eight seasons in the minors, Lou would leave the game with a minor league pitching record of 100-82 and a 4.03 ERA along with a batting average of .289 and 32 homers in 1,597 at-bats.
| Year | Team | League | F | W-L | Pct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Orlando | Florida State | 4 | 71-67 | .514 | 15 |
| 1948 | Daytona Beach | Georgia-Florida | 1 | 90-50 | .643 | - |
After baseball Bevil would return to his native state of Illinois, where he lived and worked until his death on February 1, 1973, at the age of 51, in Dixon, IL.
