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Bezig met laden... The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissiedoor Ira Berkow
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Until I read this book, Lou Brissie was just a name among old Philadelphia Athletics' players. Mr. Berkow's book gave me quite a nice introduction to Lou Brissie, a man who overcame great obstacles to become a major league pitcher and to maintain his pitcher's role. In addition, the description of recovery from a major leg injury suffered in Italy during World War II put me in mind of injuries suffered by soldiers in the current war and those soldiers' struggles to recover. I recommend this book. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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But Brissie's leg was shattered during an artillery attack in Italy in 1944 and he had to beg the doctors not to amputate. Luckily for Brissie, he found one Army doctor willing to try to save the leg. Brissie went through multiple operations--his leg bone was essentially fused together from the fragments the exploding artillery shell had left behind--and he had to wear a cumbersome brace to walk, let along pitch in the major leagues. And yet pitch in the major leagues, he did, and quite effectively, despite that leg brace and the essentially constant pain he endured. In fact, Brissie was extremely well known during the post-war years as an inspiration for wounded veterans and kids with handicaps. It's surprising and more than a bit sad that his story has been largely forgotten.
Brissie was comfortable around blacks and happy to be teammates with black ballplayers, not something to be taken for granted in those early days of the integration of Major League Baseball, especially given Brissie's Southern upbringing. During the Depression, Brissie's father, a former daredevil motorcycle rider, had had a cycle repair shop in their small South Carolina town and had a black friend as a full business partner. For this sin, one night the Klan pulled Brissie's father out of their home and beat him severely in their front yard in front of the family, breaking two ribs, then lit a cross ablaze in front of the house. The lessons Brissie took from this was admiration for his father's courage and a hatred of racism.
Brissie was still alive when Berkow was working on the book (the book was published in 2009 and Brissie died in 2013) and sat for extensive interviewing. He comes across as an extremely thoughtful fellow. Berkow, a Pulitzer Prize winning jouralist, is a fine writer who clearly had a strong connection to his subject for this biography. I highly recommend this book for readers with an interest in American history and with even a passing interest in baseball. ( )