Eugene Mathew Brabender (August 16, 1941 – December 27, 1996), nicknamed Lurch, was an

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. He was signed by the

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as an amateur free agent before the 1961 season. He also was a member of the US Army from 1963 to 1964. He pitched for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1966–1968), Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1970). During a 5-year baseball career, Brabender compiled 35 wins, 440

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

, and a 4.25

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He stood tall and weighed . Brabender, described by pitcher Steve Barber as "a hard-throwing right-handed country boy," made his Major League debut in relief on May 11, 1966. He entered a tie game against the

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in the top of the 10th inning at Memorial Stadium and gave up a run in the 11th, resulting in a 3–2 Orioles loss. He was part of the Orioles'

1966 World Series The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League ...

champion team, but did not appear in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

game. Brabender was 16–14 with a 3.39 ERA in 82 games (30 starts) during his time in Baltimore. He pitched the best game of his career on August 7, 1967, against the

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, tossing a four-hit

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while striking out 12 batters. He along with Gordon Lund was traded from the Orioles to the Seattle Pilots for Chico Salmon on March 31, 1969. Brabender led Seattle with 13 wins in their only season in the

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. The Pilots moved to Milwaukee during 1970 spring training and became the Brewers, and in what would be his final season, Brabender compiled a 6–15 record with one save and a 6.02 ERA in 29 games (21 starts). Brabender died of a brain aneurysm at age 55 on December 27, 1996.

References

*1971 Baseball Register published by

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External links

Pura Pelota
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brabender, Gene 1941 births 1996 deaths Albuquerque Dukes players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Wisconsin Great Falls Electrics players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Orlando Dodgers players Rochester Red Wings players Salem Dodgers players Salt Lake City Angels players Seattle Pilots players Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin St. Petersburg Saints players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks baseball players