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OPINION: Handing Lefty compliments for hardball lessons

June 21st 11:44 am | Lew Freedman Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Lefty Van Brunt was probably the most unheralded great pitching coach in the history of baseball. That's because he spent decades as pitching guru for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots and not for the Seattle Mariners or any other big-league team. And because outside of the summer months he helped teenagers with no team affiliation.

Guys like Lefty are the local heroes of sport, the quiet volunteers who teach our young people, generation after generation of young people, with the main reward being satisfaction at seeing them improve.

Lefty Van Brunt was as closely identified with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots as, well, a glacier pilot. He wore the blue and white uniform for nearly 30 years, which is as close to forever in sports terms as forever gets.

It's difficult to believe that Lefty is gone and that the Pilots have started a new season without him in the dugout. If there was any justice in life, Lefty would have coached one more season. But he passed away just a few weeks ago as the Pilots revved up for their new season hosting college players in Alaska.

Van Brunt was 78 when he died during the third week in May from a heart attack while hospitalized with respiratory problems.

Probably not one in a 1,000 people who ever met Van Brunt as he explained the tricks of the curveball, slider or the mechanics that would help young men get the ball over the plate ever knew his name was really George.

After the Fairbanks Goldpanners, the Pilots were the Alaska Baseball League's pioneer team, and Van Brunt and the late Jack O'Toole, the other longtime Pilots coach, were the mainstays of the team, sometimes called "the grandfathers of summer." Now they are both gone and the Pilots play on, though for longtime fans, wistfully.

Van Brunt broke into the ABL in 1969 and 1970, but his battle with alcoholism removed him from the baseball scene until 1984. When he conquered that challenge, the true Lefty emerged. Although he was most visible in the community with the Pilots during their summer sojourns at Mulcahy Stadium, Van Brunt was a year-round pitching coach.

While the University of Alaska Anchorage held sway during the winter months with its basketball and hockey teams, and the high schools played through their seasonal schedules, Van Brunt continued to teach baseball in out-of-the-way locations in the city.

There was always a Lefty warehouse out there where aspiring young Anchorage pitchers could come for instruction during the cold winter months.

"I don't turn anyone away," Van Brunt said. "I enjoy being around the game. And I love (giving) kids a chance."

It was not as if Van Brunt got rich off of dispensing wisdom. Basically, the most knowledgeable pitching mind in the city always worked for free.

When it came to the Pilots, at different times Van Brunt served as general manager as well as an on-field guy. Van Brunt goes far enough back with the Pilots that he coached Randy Johnson before Johnson harnessed the fastball and control that will get him into the Hall of Fame some year soon.

On a road trip to Fairbanks once, Van Brunt took Johnson by car and recalled the 6-foot-10 thrower sitting with his feet hanging out the window along the Parks Highway.

Always mindful that the Pilots represented family entertainment and that a lot of kids got their first look at quality baseball at Anchorage's mid-town ballpark, Van Brunt played the role of Candy Man, tossing Tootsie Roll pops to fans.

Of course, Van Brunt was a pitcher first. By the time he was 10, his nickname was Lefty because he was a southpaw, and he said even his mother called him that. Van Brunt was property of the old New York Giants and played minor-league ball before he was sidetracked by Air Force service during the Korean War. That ended his active career and started his coaching career.

That never ended.

The Glacier Pilots had planned a Lefty Van Brunt Day on July 14 to celebrate his 79th birthday. Now the day will be to honor the man for all of his help.

Lew Freedman is a former Alaska newspaperman and author of numerous books about Alaska.

 


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