Ozzie Van Brabant
From BR Bullpen
Camille Oscar Van Brabant
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 165 lb.
- Debut April 13, 1954
- Final Game April 23, 1955
- Born September 28, 1926 in Kingsville, ON CAN
[edit] Biographical Information
Kingsville, Ontario, Canada-born right-hander Ozzie Van Brabant was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Athletics before the 1952 season. "Oz" spent his first season in pro baseball with the 7th-place Lincoln Athletics of the Western League, posting a 14-10 record with a 4.09 ERA while pitching 207 innings. Van Brabant then spent the 1953 season with the 6th-place Williamsport Athletics of the Eastern League, winning 16 and losing 15 with a 3.29 ERA and again going over the 200 innings pitched mark with 238 to his credit.
Ozzie came up from the Ottawa A's early in 1954 and worked in nine games, losing his only two decisions for the Athletics in their final year in Philadelphia, PA. He also made it into two more games in relief for the Athletics in their first season in Kansas City in 1955, with no decisions, and this would mark the end of Ozzie's major league run. His last game on April 23 was memorable for two reasons: he pitched the last 1 and a third innings of a loss to the Chicago White Sox in which the Sox scored 29 runs, and his catcher was fellow Canadian Eric MacKenzie, in his only major league appearance. The two formed the first Canadian battery in major league history; the second one would not be formed until 1993, when Denis Boucher pitched to Joe Siddall with the Montreal Expos.
Van Brabant finished out the 1955 season with the Columbus Jets of the International League with a 7-10 mark and a 4.76 ERA while appearing in 25 games. This would be his last season in professional baseball and he checked out with a minor league record of 40-41 and a 4.01 ERA while pitching 648 innings in 111 games.
After baseball, Ozzie worked in electrical maintenance for Wayne State University in Detroit, MI and as of last notice is now retired in Port Sanilac, Michigan.
