Quote:
Originally Posted by Cusick
Lou Grasmick, who pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2 games in 1948, died on May 26 at the age of 91.
I had posted a photo of him from his playing days on the following webpage:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...pack-1116.html
He had given me that photo.
Lou Grasmick was much more than a ballplayer. He started his own lumber company and grew it into one of the largest on the East Coast. He helped develop part of the Baltimore waterfront, raised money to open the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture, and became a major supporter of stem cell research for cardiac conditions (He gave $2 million to Johns Hopkins Medical Center). For decades, he worked with Baltimore mayors and Maryland governors in teaming up on public projects to make improvements in the Baltimore area. He also maintained a lifelong interest in sports, and was the person responsible for arranging the professional debut of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in Baltimore.
The attached photo shows Lou at a formal occasion. |
I was quite sorry to learn of Lou Grasmick's death this morning.
As I mentioned a couple of years ago on a couple of other baseball websites, Lou Grasmick's photo or autograph was very hard to get. Finally in 2000 or 2001, a collector friend of mine who lived just outside Baltimore finally got him to autograph two photos from his Phillies days - one for him and and one for myself - but only after several attempts to get Lou to furnish playing days photos (which were quite rare among collectors at the time).
Grasmick's brief time in the major leagues at age 23 must have seemed very distant, almost like it had happened to someone else and journalists rarely referred to him as a former big leaguer, since he had accomplished so much as a businessman, political activist/advisor and philanthropist in the more recent past. . After his playing days ended, he became immensely successful as a business executive, political adviser, and a charitable millionaire who gave away millions in his lifetime to charities and projects that he deemed worthwhile.
He pitched only 5 innings in 2 games for the 1948 Phillies in his week in the major leagues, and he also hit 1.000, going 1 for 1.
RIP, Lou.