Lee Eilbracht

Lee Paul Eilbracht

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.
• School University of Illinois
• High School Waterloo High School

• Born March 22, 1924 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died January 2, 2013 in Savoy, IL USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Lee Eilbracht was an All-American catcher, a minor league player, and a longtime college coach.

Raised in Waterloo, Illinois, Eilbracht starred in baseball, basketball, and tennis in high school. After attending the University of Illinois for a time, he served in the Army during World War II. After the war, he returned to the University of Illinois and was the baseball team's Most Valuable Player in 1946 and 1947. He led the Big Ten Conference with a .484 average in 1946 and was an All-American the following year.

Eilbracht began his pro career in 1947 with the Davenport Cubs of the Three-I League. He was a player-manager of the Clinton Cubs for part of 1948 when they won the Central Association title and then was player-manager for the Sioux Falls Canaries from mid-1949 to mid-1951. He ended his playing career with the Danville Dans in 1952. He was originally signed as player/manager of Danville for 1952, but resigned when he took the head job at Illinois. [1]

Following the death of coach Wally Roettger, Eilbracht became head coach of the University of Illinois in 1952. Under his leadership, the Illini were co-champions of the Big Ten in 1952 and 1953 and outright champions in 1962 and 1963. He remained coach of the team through 1978, winning 518 games over 27 seasons. As of 2013, he is the school's all-time winningest coach.

Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record	Notes
1952	University of Illinois	20-11-1	10-5	CWS District Tournaments
1953	University of Illinois	17-6	10-3
1954	University of Illinois	16-15	4-11
1955	University of Illinois	14-10	7-6
1956	University of Illinois	15-18-1	4-11
1957	University of Illinois	17-9	7-4
1958	University of Illinois	18-10	8-6
1959	University of Illinois	22-9	9-6
1960	University of Illinois	21-10	6-8
1961	University of Illinois	22-8	9-4
1962	University of Illinois	25-6	13-2	CWS District Tournaments
1963	University of Illinois	21-15	10-5	CWS District Tournaments
1964	University of Illinois	9-22	1-14
1965	University of Illinois	14-9	8-6
1966	University of Illinois	14-14	5-7
1967	University of Illinois	17-21	5-11
1968	University of Illinois	18-19	7-10
1969	University of Illinois	22-20	11-7
1970	University of Illinois	19-16-1	8-10
1971	University of Illinois	20-16-1	10-7-1
1972	University of Illinois	16-21	5-9
1973	University of Illinois	21-13	8-10
1974	University of Illinois	27-11	9-7
1975	University of Illinois	25-17-1	4-11-1
1976	University of Illinois	20-22	3-12
1977	University of Illinois	23-25	8-10
1978	University of Illinois	25-22-1	6-12

Related Sites

• Former Coach Lee Eilbracht Passes Away

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