Lou Brissie

Leland Victor Brissie (born June 5, 1924) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1947 to 1951 and the Cleveland Indians from 1951 to 1953.

Lou Brissie began his baseball career in 1940 when at the age of 16 he pitched for Ware Shoals in a textile baseball league. Lou attracted the attention of Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1941; however his father insisted he finish school.

Lou attended Presbyterian College before enlisting in the U.S. Army in December 1942. In November 1944, Lou found himself in heavy fighting in Italy with the 88th Infantry Division (Blue Devils). On December 2, 1944, Lou's unit suffered an artillery barrage, and a shell exploded which shattered his left tibia and shinbone in 30 pieces. Lou's citations included the Purple Heart (with oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star Medal, ETO and American Campaign Medals.

After 2 years and 23 major operations Lou was able to return to baseball with a metal brace on his leg. He was signed by the Philadelphia A's on December 15, 1946. His comeback began with Savannah in the Southern League where he won 25 games in 1947. The A's called him up and on September 28, 1947 he realized his "life's ambition" of pitching in the major leagues. (Legend has it that Lou was pitching against Ted Williams when he was hit on the metal brace on his leg. It is claimed he yelled "Damn it Ted, pull the ball").

His best seasons with the A's came in 1948 when was 14–10, and 1949 when he was 16–11. He pitched 3 innings for the 1949 American League All Star team.

Lou was traded to the Cleveland Indians on April 30, 1951. This was part of a three-way trade between the Indians, Athletics and Chicago White Sox. A notable result of the trade was that Cleveland utiliy player Orestes "Minnie" Minoso went to the White Sox where he became the first black major leagues player in Chicago's history and given more opportunities to play with Chicago than Cleveland, soon became an all-star. Brissie retired in September 1953. His career record was 44–48 with 436 Ks and 4.07 ERA. He batted and threw left-handed.

As of June 2005 (according to a baseball digest article 6-1-05) Lou was serving as the National Director of the American Legion Baseball program.