Lou Brissie was just sixteen years old and pitching for Ware Shoales
in a textile baseball league when he attracted the attention of Connie
Mack. Mr. Mack offered him a contract but his father insisted that he
finish school first. He attended Presbyterian College, but left school
to enlist in the United States Army in January 1942. In December, 1944,
he was fighting in the Apennine Mountains about ten miles outside
Bologna, Italy. He was serving as an infantryman with the 88th
Division, The Blue Devils. His unit came under a heavy German artillery
barrage. One moment, Lou was clinging to the earth, the next he had
been thrown through the air by an artillery shell. He fund himself
lying in a creek with snow falling around him. He looked down at his
legs and though he could see his right foot, he could not see his left
foot. Hours later, while on a cot at the 300th General Hospital in
Naples, he whispered to the doctor, "Please save my leg, I'm a ball
player." 2 years and 23 major surgeries later, on September 27, 1947,
he realized his life's ambition, taking the mound for the Athletics, a
metal brace on his left leg. Legend has it that Ted Williams lined a
pitch off that brace and he called out to Ted, " Dammit, Ted, pull the
ball." He was a double digit winning left hander for the A's ,
appearing the 1948 All Star game and pitching three innings. In 1951 he
was part of three team trade that saw him go to the Indians and Minnie
Minoso go to the White Sox. He retired in September, 1953. Before the
second game of last year's World Series, he, along with other surviving
ballplayers from World War Two, was honored before the game. In
addition to his Purple Heart, Lou received a Bronze Star. The honor,
Mr. Brissie, is ours, for having men like you serve our country so well.
--submitted by Tom "Crash" Davis--
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