SUNDAY OCTOBER 18, 2009 Lou Brissie & Bob Feller are coming to the Horsham Days Innas part of our tribute to our Military Veterans & a dual book signing.

News Release:

Event at Days Inn Horsham featuring display of WWII memorabilia
Philadelphia A’s Historical Society honoring vets with meet & greet, book-signing by Lou Brissie, Bob Feller, local sportswriter Mike Sielski

The Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society will pay tribute to area veterans Oct. 18 in Horsham when it presents an extensive display of WWII memorabilia and a meet and greet and book-signing with former major league baseball players and WWII vets Lou Brissie and Bob Feller, as well as a local sportswriter who wrote a book about two Doylestown football rivals who took their skills from the athletic field to the battlefield.

The free event, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Days Inn Horsham, 245 Easton Road, also will feature an appearance by Maje McDonnell, who joined the Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff in 1948 and earned five battle stars and a purple heart in WWII.

Lou Brissie, the subject of, “The Corporal Was A Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie,” by Ira Berkow, will sign copies of the book, which will be available for sale. Brissie, who shattered his leg in WWII, nevertheless made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1947. He pitched in a leg brace, but still finished his career with a 44-48 record in 897.2 innings. In 1940, he became the first American League pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter on opening day.
Feller, who earned a position in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a pitcher with the Cleveland Indians - he was the first pitcher to win 20 or more games before age 21 - will be on-hand to sign copies of his, “Little Blue Book of Baseball Wisdom.” Feller, reportedly the first major league baseball player to volunteer for combat following the attack on Pearl Harbor, earned among other commendations, the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. His book will be available for sale as will, “When Baseball Went to War,” by Todd Anton and Bill Nowlin.

Also at the event will be Mike Sielski, a sportswriter with Calkins Media, whose just-published book, “Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to Fields of Honor,” chronicles the lives of Colby Umbrell, a Central Bucks High School East football player and Bryan Buckley, who played at C.B. West. The two, rivals on the football field, served in Iraq at the same time; one was killed in action. Sielski will sign copies of his book, which will be available for sale.
On display, courtesy of veteran Tony Zanzinger of Huntingdon Valley, will be an extensive display of World War II memorabilia. For additional information, contact the Philadelphia A’s Historical Society at 215-323-9901 or visit its Website, www.philadelphiaathletics.org.

John Agnew of Huntingdon Valley, Pa

WWll Veteran John Agnew of Huntingdon Valley, Pa is the first to accept our invitation to join us on October 18th as we honor our military veterans.

Tony Zanzinger was a Staff Sergeant with the 501st Parachute Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He parachuted into Normandy prior to the invasion of June 6,1944 achieving all planned objectives. After returning to England 6 weeks later, he trained for operation Market Garden which involved jumping 25 miles behind the German lines in Holland. Originally planned for 72 hours, the operaton actually lasted 72 days. Returning to FRance for thev rebuilding of the unit, they were suddenly called up after three weeks for emergency defense of Bastogne. Fighting at Bastogne for 6 weeks, they were untimately surrounded by the enemy.The famous response by General McAuliffe when asked to surrender after being surrounded for five days, was 'NUTS". The final combat operation for the 101st Airborne Division was the capture of Hitlers retreat home at Berchtesgaden.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 18, 2009

Fading Echoes by Mike Sielski

John Agnew of Huntingdon Valley, Pa