[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 29, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         LOU BRISSIE: A HERO ON THE BASEBALL AND BATTLE FIELDS

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                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 29, 2008

  Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I submit the following for the Record.

           [From the Savannah Morning News, April 29, 2008.]

                          (By Nathan Dominitz]

       Former major league all-star pitcher Lou Brissie can tell 
     stories about his ballpark encounters with the likes of Babe 
     Ruth, Ted Williams, Connie Mack and Satchel Paige.
       Monday night and [Tuesday], people are sharing stories 
     about Brissie, Savannah's own living legend for his starring 
     role on the 1947 South Atlantic League championship team.
       ``We didn't measure speed in those days, but I know he must 
     have thrown close to 100 miles an hour,'' said longtime 
     friend Bill Hockenbury, an all-star third baseman on the 1947 
     Savannah Indians, a Class A affiliate of the then-
     Philadelphia Athletics. ``I'm serious. He just reared back 
     and threw that ball.''
       Brissie, now 83, might have enough power in his left arm to 
     throw out the first pitch [Tuesday] night at Grayson Stadium, 
     where the Savannah Sand Gnats will retire his No. 3 jersey 
     before the 7 p.m. game against the Hickory Crawdads. The 
     first 1,000 fans receive a replica Brissie jersey T-shirt 
     courtesy of the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society.
       There was a ``Lou Brissie Day'' scheduled in 2007, but it 
     was rained out, rescheduled and rained out again late last 
     season in Savannah. Brissie didn't think a higher power was 
     sending a message.
       ``No, he speaks plainer than that,'' said Brissie, a North 
     Augusta, S.C., resident for the last 30-plus years with his 
     wife, Diana.
       The Sand Gnats also organized a banquet in his honor Monday 
     night at the Riverfront Marriott. Again it rained, but 
     thankfully this event was indoors. Attendees received the T-
     shirt as well as a figurine of Brissie pitching. Brissie's 
     own story is worthy of a movie, and indeed it was re-enacted 
     decades ago for a television program starring former pro 
     athlete Chuck Connors, famous as ``The Rifleman.'' Brissie 
     also is the subject of an ongoing book project.


                               True Grit

       The dramatic elements are there. A teenage pitching 
     prospect enlists in the U.S. Army during World War II. On a 
     battlefield in Northern Italy in 1944, the corporal nearly 
     has his left leg blown off when an artillery shell lands at 
     his feet.
       ``I broke an ankle and my feet. My leg was shattered in 30 
     pieces between the knee and the ankle,'' said Brissie, who 
     would receive two Purple Heart medals and a Bronze Star 
     during his military service.
       Amputation was an option, but Brissie knew that would end 
     hopes of a baseball career. He persuaded doctors to save the 
     leg, and credits a military surgeon, Capt. Wilbur Brubaker, 
     for doing the incredible.
       ``I was just a guy with a dream,'' said Brissie, who would 
     spend parts of seven seasons in the majors with the Athletics 
     and Indians, including an appearance in the 1949 All-Star 
     Game. ``I think I was just blessed from Day One. There 
     weren't guys who attain the major leagues who were as 
     fortunate and blessed as I was.''
       Brissie, through 23 surgeries and countless setbacks, would 
     pitch again--eventually for the Philadelphia Athletics, who 
     originally signed him in 1940 and resigned the 6-foot-4, 210-
     pound lefty in 1946.
       He was assigned to Savannah, posting a 23-5 record, 1.91 
     ERA and SAL record 278 batters in 254 innings. He wore a 
     brace on his left leg, which was about 1\1/2\ inches shorter 
     than the right. He also had the admiration of his teammates, 
     who saw his daily routine of playing with a leg that under 
     the bandages ``looked like a piece of tissue paper,'' 
     Hockenbury said.
       ``He was our hero,'' recalled Hockenbury, a World War II 
     veteran and one of half a dozen Indians to eventually make it 
     to the big leagues. ``He was great. He was our leader. He was 
     our superstar.''


                          Home-field advantage

       Savannah responded, packing Grayson Stadium when Brissie 
     pitched and often when he didn't, Hockenbury said.
       ``We had great community support,'' Brissie said. ``The 
     fans were just tremendous. We had community business support. 
     I think it was the ideal time after World War II and before 
     television.''
       The talented team, playing in a league stocked with future 
     major leaguers, had the unity necessary for success over the 
     long summer months.
       ``In all of that time, I never heard two guys have a bad 
     word or get upset,'' Brissie said. ``Everybody was for 
     everybody else. It's really one of my greatest memories.''
       The retiree makes weekly visits to a Veterans 
     Administration hospital and speaks with injured servicemen. 
     He shares motivational stories and asks them not to give up 
     their dreams.
       ``You've got to live each day and look for something 
     better, and it will show up,'' he said.

     

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