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The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie
Author(s): Ira Berkow (Author), Tom Brokaw (Foreword)
- Publisher: Triumph Books
- Publication Date: February 1, 2009
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 1600781047
- ISBN-13: 9781600781049
Book Description
Lou Brissie’s extraordinary story is one that takes readers from the terrifying battlefields in Europe in World War II to the playing fields in Philadelphia. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ira Berkow brings together the unforgettable memories of a hero’s life, telling the tales of a man who overcame incredible odds with his leg in a protective metal case to realize his dream of pitching in the major leagues. Brissie recounts amazing stories, including Brissie’s leg injury and how he was left for dead in the snow and mud of the Appenines in Italy, his pleading with doctors to not surgically remove his leg so that he might one day play professional baseball, the numerous surgeries and his improbable road to recovery, his friendship with Connie Mack and the opportunity to pitch after his injury, being named to the 1949 All-Star team as member of the Philadelphia Athletics, the big scare Brissie received when a Ted Williams line drive struck his wounded leg, and his regular visits for the past 60 years to both veteran’s hospitals and children’s hospital wards. The Corporal Was a Pitcher is a must-read not only for baseball fans, but also for anyone looking to find inspiration from a man who never quit despite the odds being stacked so highly against him.
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
On December 7, 1944, a young army corporal from South Carolina was riding in a transport in northern Italy when an enemy shell hit the vehicle. Five of the 11 riders survived, including Lou Brissie, a promising Major League pitching prospect. Doctors wanted to amputate. Brissie implored them to save the leg. They did, and Brissie made the climb to the majors while wearing a knee-to-ankle, steel-and-aluminum brace. Called up to the majors by the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the 1947 season, he pitched through 1953 for the A’s and Indians, compiling a journeyman’s 44–48 record. Berkow, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of 18 books, profiles Brissie’s courage in overcoming his injuries and realizing his dream, but he also details the man’s post-baseball career, in which he inspired injured vets and sick children with his calming presence, sincerity, and history of overcoming the odds. A deeply empathetic and moving chronicle of a life well lived. –Wes Lukowsky
About the Author
Ira Berkow is a sports columnist and feature writer for the New York Times for more than 25 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2001 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer for commentary in 1988. He is the author of 18 books, including the bestsellersMaxwell Street: Survival in a Bazaar and Red: A Biography of Red Smith, as well as two memoirs, Full Swing and To the Hoop. Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life, cowritten and edited by Mr. Berkow, was a primary source for the award-winning documentary The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. He lives in New York City. Tom Brokaw is a television journalist and the bestselling author of the book The Greatest Generation.