Lou Boudreau

Louis " Lou" Boudreau ( July 17, 1917 in Harvey, Illinois; † August 10, 2001 in Frankfort, Illinois) was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball.

Biography

Lou Boudreau was the captain of the baseball and basketball team at the University of Illinois, when he signed an agreement with the Cleveland Indians that he would play after completing his studies for the Indians. Due to his signature the officials of the Big 10 Conference declared the amateur status of Boudreau void and he could no longer compete for his college team. On September 9, 1938 Boudreau made ​​his debut in the American League as Einwechselschlagmann. In addition, he was still playing professional basketball for Hammond, Indiana in the National Basketball League.

The 1939 season began at the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. In the second half of the season he was then appointed to the major league team, where he played at the position of the shortstops. 1940 Boudreau was appointed to the All- Star team of the American League. In 1942 he also took over the post of manager in the Indians. At 24, he is still to this day the youngest manager who was at the beginning of a season on the bench of a major league team. One of his best decisions was the re-purposing of Bob Lemon from infielder to pitcher. In 1944 he had 32.7 % the best batting average and led the American League in 1941, 1944 and 1947 to his league in doubles.

His greatest season had both as a player and as manager Boudreau 1948. He achieved a batting average of 35.5 %, hit 18 home runs and 106 RBI and scored 116 runs. The Indians won 97 games and the title in the American League. Boudreau was awarded the MVP of the AL and the Sportsman of the Year Award from the Associated Press. In the World Series, the Indians defeated the Boston Braves in six games. This is to date the last victory of the Indians in a World Series.

1951 moved Boudreau to the Boston Red Sox, where he played his last game on 24 August 1952. Since 1952, Boudreau was also manager of the Red Sox. He held until 1954 this post. Further stations of his career as a manager were the Kansas City Athletics and the Chicago Cubs.

After his career he worked as a radio and television commentator for the Cubs. In 1970 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 2001 Boudreau died at the age of 84 years.

His positions as a player

His positions as Manager

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