Lou Perini

Louis Robert Perini

• Born November 29, 1903 in Ashland, MA USA
• Died April 16, 1972 in West Palm Beach, FL USA

Biographical Information

Lou Perini was one of the "Three Steam Shovels" that bought the Boston Braves in 1946. The three owners, Perini, Guido Rugo, and Joe Maney, were all in the construction business. Perini started out as a water boy in his father's small construction firm, and ended up running a worldwide company.

In 1953, he moved the club to Milwaukee, WI, citing financial losses and poor attendance in Boston. Bill Veeck had been trying to move his St. Louis Browns to Milwaukee after deciding he couldn't run the Busch family out of St. Louis. The move was the first franchise shift in 50 years. The Braves had great attendance figures in their first season in Milwaukee, prompting a number of other franchise moves in the following years. Under Perini's leadership, the once-struggling Braves developed star players such as Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews, reached the World Series in 1948 while still based in Boston, and won it playing out of Milwaukee in 1957.

Perini and his brothers, Charles and Joseph, became full owners of the Braves in 1951 for $500,000 and sold to a Chicago group in 1962 for $5,500,000. However, Lou kept a 10% interest in the club and sat on the Board of Directors, even as the team moved to Atlanta.

Further Reading

• Saul Wisnia: "From Yawkey to Milwaukee: Lou Perini Makes his Move", in Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: Thar's Joy in Braveland: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 5-12. ISBN 978-1933599717

Related Sites

• Lou Perini at the SABR Bio Project