Lou Boudreau

Louis Boudreau, Jr.


Born:
July 18, 1917 
Harvey, IL

Died:
August 10, 2001
Olympia Fields, IL 

Career
1933-34 Thornton Township High School - Illinois (High School)
1934-35 Thornton Township High School - Illinois (High School)
1935-36 Thornton Township High School - Illinois (High School)
1936-37 University of Illinois (College)
1937-38 University of Illinois (College)
1938-39 Hammond Ciesar All-Americans (NBL)




Although he became one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history, Lou Boudreau was an All-American basketball player prior to his Major League career.

Born to Lou and Birdie Henry Boudreau, Boudreau was raised as a leader on the field and the court by his father, who was a semi-pro baseball player himself. In high school, there was no baseball team so Boudreau concentrated on basketball. He went to Illinois where he was an All-American, but his baseball prowess took off. He left school to pursue athletics, earning $150 a game for Hammond while fielding baseball offers from the Cubs and Indians. He signed with the Indians in 1938, and embarked on a career that saw him become named the Indians manager (while still the shortstop) at 24 years of age. In 1948, he lead the Indians to a World Series victory, batting .355 along the way and winning the MVP award. He retired as a player  in 1952 with a .295 batting average, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.
Boudreau married his high school sweetheart Della DeRuiter (1916-1999) in 1938. He had two sons, Louis and Henry, and two daughter, Sharyn McLain (wife of baseball player Denny McLain) and Paula Golazewski.

Baseball Stats:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boudrlo01.shtml

Baseball Hall of Fame page
http://baseballhall.org/hof/boudreau-lou

SABR biography
http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3fde9ca7

Stats:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/players/b/boudrlo01n.html
www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=boudrlo01