Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1956 • Baseball Clip • Lew Burdette Interview - Radio

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1956 • Baseball Clip • Lew Burdette Interview - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  This is Lou Bredette. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill.
• 0:12
  This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding pitchers.
• 0:26
  And in the band our special guest Lou Bredette considers his greatest sports thrill.
• 0:31
  And Lou himself is here to tell us all about it.
• 0:34
  The first here is Bill Raddick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
• 0:39
  Put a promising player in the hands of a good coach and pretty soon that player is going to be really outstanding.
• 0:46
  It's the same way when a young man with mechanical ability receives training from the U.S. Air Force.
• 0:51
  Because the Air Force will teach him the latest techniques in such fields as electronics, rocket propulsion, photography.
• 0:59
  Yes, important skills that will pay him big dividends.
• 1:03
  And of course as an airman he'll be paid all the time he's learning.
• 1:07
  And say, men who join the Air Force at an early age find that when their active duty and reserve obligation are completed, they have a flying start on life.
• 1:18
  If you would like the chance to learn a well-paying skill, if you'd like to train for a really worthwhile future, check now with your local Air Force recruiter.
• 1:27
  Ask for the free booklet, Pocket Guide to Air Force Opportunities.
• 1:32
  Learn how you can go places faster as an airman in the United States Air Force.
• 1:39
  Now back to Harry Wismer.
• 1:42
  On the afternoon of April 17, 1956, Lou Bredette hurled the Milwaukee Braves to a 6-0 shot out over the Chicago Cubs.
• 1:50
  Although it was a splendid performance during which the slender right-hander permitted only five hits, retiring the last 11 batters in succession, ordinarily it would not merit much more than routine praise.
• 2:02
  But this game was a special one, for it marked the 38th shot out ever pitched on opening day in modern National League history.
• 2:10
  And the first by a Milwaukee pitcher.
• 2:13
  Exactly four months later to the day, Bredette flanked the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 with another five-hitter.
• 2:20
  That was his sixth shot out of the year.
• 2:22
  Lou Bredette finished the 1956 season with a belated victory for Milwaukee on the last day.
• 2:28
  But it was too late for the Braves to win their first National League pennant.
• 2:32
  The 19th victory for Lou was his pitching tops, and his earned run average of 2.71 was the best in his league.
• 2:39
  That's not bad for a guy who was given to the Braves virtually as a gift five years before.
• 2:45
  Lou was used as a throw-in on a trade between the New York Yankees and Boston Braves.
• 2:51
  It took Lou Bredette a full year to acquire the Major League feel of things, but once he did, he settled down to become one of the top pitchers in the National League.
• 3:00
  It was no accident that this fidgety right-hander rose to become the star of Milwaukee's fine staff before reaching the age of 30.
• 3:08
  Possessor of a peculiar delivery, loose as a lariat, Lou can throw all three of his standard pitches, his curve, fastball, and slider, with any one of three deliveries, overhand, three-quarters, or sidearm.
• 3:23
  Bredette has probably the best sinker in baseball.
• 3:26
  When the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, it is doubtful whether any player meant more to them in their incredible rise from seventh place to second than Lou Bredette.
• 3:37
  True, Eddie Matthews was the Major League home run king, and Warren Spahn was baseball's number one pitcher.
• 3:44
  But without Bredette's contributions, Milwaukee could never have jumped back into the National League pennant picture.
• 3:50
  Lou appeared in 46 games that year, winning 15 against only five setbacks.
• 3:56
  The next year, working again as a starter and reliever, Bredette again won 15 games.
• 4:01
  Despite his personal success, Lou Bredette refuses to accept full credit. I'd say that pitching is about 30% control and 70% luck, he says.
• 4:11
  If you can throw the ball where you want to, and you have good luck to back you up, you're going to win your share of games.
• 4:18
  Lou Bredette was born November the 22nd, 1926, in Nitro, West Virginia, which received its unusual name during World War I when a boom town grew up around an explosive plant.
• 4:31
  He was christened Selva Lewis, Jr., but for obvious reasons he preferred to use the middle name.
• 4:38
  After graduation from high school, Lou Bredette enlisted in the Air Corps Cadet Program, had his basic training at Shepherd Field, and later served at Chenalp Field and at Lincoln, Nebraska.
• 4:51
  His service career completed, Bredette entered the University of Richmond with his heart set on coaching, but he surprised everyone with his pitching ability and decided to leave school and go into professional baseball.
• 5:03
  Declining an offer from a Boston DRAVE scout, Bredette signed with the New York Yankees organization and for the next few years played for Norfolk, Virginia, Amsterdam, New York, Quincy, Illinois, and Kansas City before finally making it with the Yankee varsity in the fall of 1950.
• 5:21
  In the spring of 1951, Bredette became ill during the training period and after recovering was shipped by New York to the San Francisco Seals on the Pacific Coast.
• 5:31
  He had won 14 and lost 12 when on August 29th he was included in the deal that sent him to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sane and $50,000.
• 5:42
  Lou Bredette is aptly suited for relief as well as starting.
• 5:46
  Blessed with near perfect control, Lou is a low ball pitcher, the kind that gets the batter to hit the ball into the ground.
• 5:53
  I try to keep the ball low, especially with men on bases, Bredette explains. That's the best way to get a double play.
• 6:01
  Another thing, I don't believe in pacing myself. I try to give it my best as long as I can, figuring if I were out there will be someone in the bullpen to take my place.
• 6:11
  My theory is that if I coast at all, I might do it just enough to cost my team the ball game.
• 6:19
  Off the field, Lou Bredette has a carefree manner which belies the fact that he is one of the outstanding competitors in the game.
• 6:27
  Always ready with a gag, he has a keen sense of humor. Once he takes the mound though, jokes are forgotten.
• 6:33
  He is relaxed, not the type to be rattled by enemy batsmen or baserunners, but he tends strictly to business.
• 6:40
  Rival managers during the past three years have tried to ruffle his composure by accusing him of throwing a spitball.
• 6:48
  Lou Bredette merely laughs at them and goes about his business of getting the batters out.
• 6:53
  It's no use trying to tell them that I don't throw the spinner, he says. They won't believe me anyway.
• 6:59
  They've made up their minds that I throw that confounded pitch and nothing will change their minds.
• 7:05
  But that's all right with me, Lou Bredette adds with a big, impish grin on his face. All they did was give me another pitch.
• 7:14
  Now before you meet our special guest, Lou Bredette in person, in an interview from Municipal Stadium in Milwaukee,
• 7:20
  and hear about his greatest sports thrill, here is a message of interest to all young men who want to go places faster.
• 7:29
  Here's a word to the wise high school senior who wants to go places faster after graduation time.
• 7:35
  The United States Air Force offers you the world's finest technical training,
• 7:39
  plus the opportunity to earn college credit and all this while you're receiving full Air Force pay as an Airman.
• 7:47
  But that's only the beginning.
• 7:49
  Members of the Air Force team enjoy travel, adventure, the kind of living that's made to order for active young men.
• 7:56
  They fulfill their military obligation early, often by the time they're 22 years old, and they're off to a flying start in life.
• 8:05
  So whatever your future plans may be, get the full story today on opportunities in the U.S. Air Force.
• 8:13
  You may be eligible for specialized training in electronics, meteorology, or transportation,
• 8:19
  to name a few of the many careers that will pay big dividends.
• 8:22
  See your nearest recruiter and find out how you can go places faster on the all-volunteer Air Force team.
• 8:30
  Now back to Harry Wismer.
• 8:33
  Lou Burdette, what was your greatest sports thrill?
• 8:37
  Well, Harry, I've had plenty of thrills in baseball.
• 8:40
  I think that most in my mind, I think in every pitcher's mind, it's the last pitch of a ballgame.
• 8:46
  When that last man is out, you build up quite a bit of tension inside your body, and then all at once it's just let go.
• 8:54
  And it's quite a relaxed feeling, and I think every pitcher will say that that's their greatest thrill in baseball.
• 9:00
  Lou, do you recall the first time you ever pitched in the major leagues?
• 9:05
  Yes, I certainly do. It was in Yankee Stadium in 1950.
• 9:09
  I came up from Kansas City, and I'd been playing in smaller ball parts.
• 9:14
  And then I went in the bullpen in Yankee Stadium, and Casey Stingo called me in against Washington in the fifth or sixth inning.
• 9:23
  We were getting beaten kind of bad at the time, and Gil Cohen was hitting.
• 9:28
  I know I walked out on the mound, and Casey handed me the ball, and he says, go get him, kid.
• 9:34
  And I stood out there alone then, and I started looking up a little towards the catcher.
• 9:40
  And then I saw this big, massive stands in the background, and I kept looking on up, higher and higher.
• 9:46
  It seemed like the higher I would look, the more stands there were, and I think my knees actually started knocking.
• 9:51
  But then I settled back down, and I threw two pitches, and Gil Cohen popped up the shortstop.
• 9:56
  And that's my first pitch in Major League Baseball.
• 9:59
  How much does a pitcher rely on his catcher to call the kind of ball to be pitched?
• 10:04
  Well, I think that's according to the experience that a catcher has.
• 10:09
  I know Del Crandall and Del Rice on our ball club, I've pitched to them several times,
• 10:15
  and I rely on their decision because they know what pitches I throw.
• 10:19
  But if there's a young catcher or a new catcher that's never caught me before, then I more or less pitch my own ballgame
• 10:26
  because they don't know exactly what pitches I like to rely on in a pinch and what ones I don't.
• 10:31
  Lou, what part does a pitching coach play in helping a fellow make the grade in the Major Leagues?
• 10:37
  Well, Harry, I think a pitching coach can help a lot of guys, especially the young guy,
• 10:42
  in developing new pitches and maybe linking their stride to bring their delivery down to where the strike zone is
• 10:50
  always better to pitch low than high unless you're one of those exceptionally hard throwers, which most people aren't.
• 10:57
  But I think a pitching coach can also help you when you're going bad.
• 11:02
  He's seen you when you were pitching good ball, and then when he sees you when you're having a hard time out there,
• 11:07
  maybe he can pick up a fault in your delivery or something that you didn't have when you were going good.
• 11:13
  And also, like I said, he can help you with certain pitches like Bucky Walters, who is now with the New York Giants.
• 11:20
  When he was in Milwaukee, he helped me, and in Boston, he helped me a lot with the screwball.
• 11:25
  I was trying to develop something that broke away from the left-handed hitter, and I think Bucky helped me a tremendous amount with that.
• 11:32
  Lou, could you tell us how different managers you have played for go about taking a pitcher out of the box?
• 11:38
  Well, Harry, I guess they have different methods, but some of them, when they come out one time,
• 11:45
  you're definitely gone, and there are others that come out and they ask you how you're feeling, and of course they know how you're doing.
• 11:52
  When Charlie Grimm was with our ball club, well, when Charlie came out or sent someone out, well, 99% of the time, you were gone.
• 12:00
  Of course, Fred Haney took over later on.
• 12:03
  Well, Fred is a guy that would come out and talk to you, and if he decided you were through, well, then he would tell you.
• 12:10
  But Charlie left no doubt hardly in your mind when you saw him go to the water fountain.
• 12:14
  You know, you had one more man if you didn't get him out, well, you were gone.
• 12:17
  I remember one time, actually, when Grimm came out, and one of the four times, I think, in four years, I saw him leave a pitcher in.
• 12:25
  He came out to me, and he left me in, and the very next pitch, I think, a guy got a single and drove in to a winning run.
• 12:32
  I was gone the next one. That's for sure.
• 12:35
  Now, was there a pitch or a ball game that you wish you could play over again?
• 12:39
  Yes, Harry, I've thrown a lot of pitches that I would like to have back, but I think the one that sticks in my mind more than any other is the one I threw in 1954, I think it was, 54, to Gil Hodges in Ebbets Field.
• 12:53
  It was in the fifth inning, and I had a no-hitter going, and I threw a fastball to Gil, and he hit a home run, and it turned out to be the only hit of the ball game.
• 13:01
  So far, that's the best game I've pitched in the major.
• 13:05
  As a pitcher, what pattern in the league would you like to have hitting for you and your team?
• 13:10
  Harry, I'm telling you, there's a lot of them I'd like to have on my side, but I think there's one hitter in the National League that I would definitely like to have on my side,
• 13:19
  and he's the same old stand-by, stand the man. I mean, he's a great hitter.
• 13:25
  Stan is the type of guy that he'll give you enough credit that if you pitch him outside, he'll go to the opposite field with you, pitch him inside, he'll pull the ball on you, and I don't pitch him down the middle because I'm too close out that way.
• 13:39
  But actually, Stan is a guy that he'll beat you any way he can. He's a great hitter.
• 13:45
  Thank you very much, Lou Burdek, one of baseball's outstanding pitchers.