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Anchorage Baseball Pioneer Lefty Van Brunt Dies at 78He was not only a coach of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, but since 1969 was also a mentor and friend to so many who loved the game.According to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, Lefty Van Brunt passed away Tuesday morning of heart failure after feeling sick over the weekend; he died at the age of 78. “Even when he wasn’t feeling good, and was sick, he always put other people first,” said Jon Dyson, general manager of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. “Always, without a doubt, [he] put the Pilots first… When his family called us this morning, it really took us all by surprise…you never, never want to prepare for a moment like that.” Probably no other person has done more for baseball in Anchorage than Lefty Van Brunt. Lefty is survived by his wife Pat, their five children and his grandchildren, but perhaps his real legacy is the mark he left on Alaska baseball. “I took over a legion team here in town. We used to play in the adult league also. We used to play seven days a week,” said Lefty in a 2009 interview. He was not only a coach of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, but since 1969 was also a mentor and friend to so many who loved the game. Lefty would say that all he was interested in was “helping kids get along in their career [and] college.” His coaching was instrumental in advancing more than 140 future Major League Baseball players’ careers like Chris Chambliss, Randy Jones, Randy Johnson and Mark McGwire. His love of baseball began at an early age, and for the only left-handed kid in his neighborhood, Lefty said he was “fortunate” to have grown up half a block away from a ballpark in San Francisco. In 1949, at the age of 16, Lefty signed with the New York Giants Minor League Division. The young pitcher and outfielder played for the brother of Yankee great Joe DiMaggio who questioned Lefty's 5’11”, 150-pound frame. “He looked at me and said, ‘I don't know what they saw in you, son. You’re too skinny,’” said Lefty in the same 2009 interview. He proved he belonged by winning his first two games, but the Korean War cut his career short. “I put it as a love of the game. I am not a legend, I am just the first one to try something… something I love is the game of baseball,” said Lefty. |
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