Lew Burdette

It’s baseball time, so let’s go back to the glory days of the Milwaukee Braves. Lew Burdette (born Selva Lewis Burdette) was a star right-handed pitcher for the Braves. He was the MVP in the 1957 World Series and led Milwaukee to its first baseball championship in history. Lew was the first pitcher in 37 years to win three complete games in a series and the first since 1905 to pitch two shutouts. Burdette was the winning pitcher on May 26, 1959, when Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Harvey Haddix pitched a perfect game against the Braves for 12 innings, but lost in the 13th. In August 1960 at Milwaukee County Stadium, Lew pitched a no-hitter, facing 27 Philadelphia Phillies batters. He also scored the game’s winning run after hitting a lead-off double in the 8th inning. Did Lew throw a spitball? He’ll answer that question. He was so good at getting hitters out that he inspired Braves manager Fred Haney to comment: “Lew would make coffee nervous.”