The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie
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