Lou Brissie

From BR Bullpen

Leland Victor Brissie

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 215 lb.
• School Presbyterian College
• Debut September 28, 1947
• Final Game September 1, 1953
• Born June 5, 1924 in Anderson, SC USA

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Contents 1 Quotes 2 Biographical Information 3 Notable Achievements 4 Further Reading 5 Related Sites and Sources for the Article

[edit] Quotes

If someone tells you that you cannot climb the mountain, you set out and find a way to do it.– Lou Brissie, in Baseball Digest

Was Lou Brissie a hero? His characteristically modest response: “I don’t think I am. I knew some.” - SABR interviewer to Brissie.

[edit] Biographical Information

Lou Brissie had never played baseball in high school, but he did play with a local textile league team. The day he graduated from high school, he was given a pro contract by the Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack. He was offered a contract with a $25,000 bonus to play for the Dodgers, but he turned it down before signing with the Athletics.

Mack agreed to send the southpaw to Presbyterian College for three years. He was scheduled to report for spring training with the Athletics in 1943, but he enlisted in the Army in December '42. He lost a brother in the war and decided to enlist himself.

Brissie was a paratrooper corporal in World War II. He would play with a semi-pro textile team in Greenville, South Carolina during 1944 (where he was stationed for basic training). He would also pitch for his army team against other local military teams. In Italy he led a patrol of 12 men into a battle zone and was the only survivor. Brissie suffered severe leg injuries in the war but was able to surmount them and make it to the majors. (While recovering in hospital, he received a letter from Connie Mack promising him a chance to play ball when he was ready.)

He was awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his injuries. He was on crutches in 1945, and could not play. He was still disabled in 1946, but was given a contract by Mack for 1947. He would join the Savannah Indians of the South Atlantic League that year, and would win 23 games with an ERA of 1.19. Brissie was a major draw for Savannah; on nights when he would pitch, the crowds would number from 6,000-11,000, and fans would often be seated on the grass in the outfield.

His debut in the Majors came on September 28, 1947, when he was on the mound for the Philadelphia Athletics, facing the Yankees in their last game of the season. He would go seven innings and struck out four, but his team would lose 5-3. His left leg was in a specially designed brace for the game.

Brissie pitched seven seasons in the majors, winning 44 games and saving 29. He was most successful as a rookie for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1948, when he won 14 games and led the league in strikeouts per nine innings, and in 1949 when he won 16 games and was named to the All Star team. His main teammates were Eddie Joost, Ferris Fain, Sam Chapman, Elmer Valo and Hank Majeski.

Brissie is the most recent major league player to come from Presbyterian College (as of 2006), a school that also produced Chick Galloway. Prior to his college days, he had played in the textile leagues as a teenager. He was featured in Sport Magazine in 1948 in an article on the textile leagues.

He would hang up his ballcap in 1953, after the Cleveland Indians sold his contract to their farm club in Indianapolis, but he never reported for duty.

After his playing days he became national director for American Legion Baseball. He worked with the Legion until 1961, when he was downsized. He spent time as a scout for the Dodgers in 1962 and becase a scout for the Braves in 1964.

He would go into private industry, working in employee relations and as a company representative in Washington. His company was bought out in the early 1980's, and he then moved to the South Carolina State Board of Technical Education. He worked for the state for more than a dozen years.

Brissie lost his first wife in 1967, and married his current wife Diana in 1975. Together they would raise six children (Ronald [who died in 2002 and served in Vietnam] ^[1], Robert, Aaron, Vicki, Charlotte and Jennifer) .

After retiring to South Carolina, Lou would join Ted Williams and others in trying to get Shoeless Joe Jackson off the restricted list and into the Hall of Fame.

He was awarded the "Americanism Award" by the Cooperstown Hall of Fame for his contribution to youth and to baseball, and was elected to the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1994. He was also awarded the Order of the Palmetto (one of the two highest civilian honors awarded by the Governor of South Carolina ^[2] )in 1996. ^[3]

He still suffers from pain in his leg, and admitted to being in pain for over 60 years. He would pitch through the pain and would accept his fate. "You get up every day and it’s like having diabetes – which is something possibly worse, but it is a daily thing that you check and try to deal with, whatever comes up." ^[4]

Interestingly, he is still listed as "Active" on the Cleveland Indians homepage, perhaps out of respect for his abilities. See [1]

[edit] Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (1949)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (1949)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1949 & 1950)

[edit] Further Reading

• Ira Berkow: The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie, Triumph Books, Chicago, IL, 2009.

[edit] Related Sites and Sources for the Article

• [An interview with Lou Brissie]
• [Bio on his wartime experiences and later life]
• Presbyterian College bio
• SABR bio page
• South Atlantic League Hall of Fame page
• North Augusta Star interview

As quoted above: