Lou Bevil

Louis Eugene Bevil
born Louis Eugene Bevilacqua

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of Notre Dame
• Debut September 2, 1942
• Final Game September 13, 1942
• Born November 27, 1922 in Nelson, IL USA
• Died February 1, 1973 in Dixon, IL USA

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Biographical Information

Right-hander Lou Bevil attended Notre Dame as an all-around athlete from Dixon (IL) High School and pitched one spring with the Fighting Irish before signing as an amateur free agent with the Washington Senators in 1940. The seventeen year old pitcher was assigned to the DeLand Red Hats of the Class D Florida State League for his first season in professional baseball, getting off to a rocky start with an 11-21 record and a 4.62 ERA in 234 innings. Bevil would spend most of the next two seasons in the minors, pitching 256 innings for the Thomasville Lookouts of the Georgia-Florida League in 1941, building a 17-15 record and a 3.80 ERA and jumped up to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class A Southern Association for the '42 season, going 13-12 with a 5.32 ERA. On July 26 of this season, he pitched a seven inning, 3-0 no-hitter against the Atlanta Crackers and was also the winning pitcher in the league All-Star game, driving in and scoring a run on two hits in two at-bats.

This performance earned him a late season call-up in the the 1942 season and the parent Washington Senators brought Lou to the big leagues and he made his major league debut with the Senators on September 2, against the Chicago White Sox, but he failed to survive the first inning. Lou would spend the rest of the season with the big league club, appearing in four games, pitching 9 2/3 innings and picking up one loss to go with a 6.52 ERA. This would be Bevil's only appearance at the top level.

The military was Lou's next stop and the young pitcher would spend the next three years (1943-1945) as a Tank Commander with the Army's 13th Armored Division during World War II. Lou would spend the rest of his baseball career (1946-1950) in the minors and, on his return from the service, he had a split season with the Orlando Senators and the Chattanooga Lookouts, going 11-4 with a 4.76 ERA. 1947 found Lou at Orlando again, this time as the club's player-manager, personally ringing up a 4-3 record and a 2.72 ERA while pitching 53 innings. Lou hit at a .304 clip in 441 at-bats while appearing in 122 games in the outfield and brought the club in at a fourth place finish at 71-67. Bevil was back at the same job in 1948. He guided the Senators to a 90-50 record and the league championship, and personally was one of the league's top hurlers with a 19-7 record with a 3.41 ERA, also hitting .365 with five home runs in 192 at-bats, eight at-bats shy of being the league leader. Bevil chose to get out of the manager's chair in 1949, signing with the Daytona Beach Islanders of the same league in 1949, and again he was too much for this level, going 19-11 on the mound with a 2.40 ERA while pitching 251 innings. On the hitters side, he batted .291 with 18 home runs while appearing in 128 games in the outfield. Lou would try the same deal with the Anniston Rams of the Class B Southeastern League in 1950, but fell to a 6-9 record and a .291 average. At the age of 27 wit eight seasons in the minors, Lou would leave the game with a minor league record of 100-82 and a 4.03 ERA along with a batting average of .289 and 32 homers in 1,597 at-bats.

After baseball, Bevil would return to his native state of Illinois, where he lived and worked until his death on February 1, 1973, at the age of 51, in Dixon, IL.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1947	Orlando Senators	Florida State League	71-67	4th	Washington Senators	Lost in 1st round
1948	Orlando Senators	Florida State League	90-50	1st	Washington Senators	Lost in 1st round
1950	Anniston Rams	Southeastern League	1-18	--	none	--	replaced Charlie Letchas (17-39) on June 14 replaced by Dick Wentworth (3-16) on July 3

Related Sites

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