{{Short description|American baseball player (1941–1996)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Gene Brabender | image = Gene Brabender 1969.jpg | alt = Gene Brabender in 1969 | caption = Brabender with the Seattle Pilots in 1969 | team = | number = | position = Pitcher | positionplain = | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|08|16}} | birth_place= Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|12|27|1941|08|16}} | death_place= Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. | bats = Right | throws = Right |debutleague = MLB | debutdate = May 11 | debutyear = 1966 | debutteam = Baltimore Orioles |finalleague = MLB | finaldate = September 26 | finalyear = 1970 | finalteam = Milwaukee Brewers |statleague = MLB | stat1label = Win–loss record | stat1value = 35–43 | stat2label = Earned run average | stat2value = 4.25 | stat3label = Strikeouts | stat3value = 440 | teams = * Baltimore Orioles ({{mlby|1966}}–{{mlby|1968}}) * Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers ({{mlby|1969}}–{{mlby|1970}}) }} '''Eugene Mathew Brabender''' (August 16, 1941 – December 27, 1996), nicknamed "'''Lurch'''", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent before the 1961 season. He also was a member of the US Army from 1963 to 1964.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=December 30, 1996 |title=Former Brewer Gene Brabender collapses, dies |url=https://apnews.com/c58dce66d82e3010dd7ff56d171d1d12 |access-date=September 14, 2019 |website=Associated Press}}</ref> He pitched for the Baltimore Orioles (1966–1968), Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1970).<ref name=":0" /> During a 5-year baseball career, Brabender compiled 35 wins, 440 strikeouts, and a 4.25 earned run average. He stood {{convert|6|ft|6|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|225|lb}}.

Brabender, described by pitcher Steve Barber as "a hard-throwing right-handed country boy,"<ref>''Ball Four'' (March 31, 1969)</ref> made his Major League debut in relief on May 11, 1966. He entered a tie game against the Chicago White Sox in the top of the 10th inning at Memorial Stadium and gave up a run in the 11th, resulting in a 3–2 Orioles loss.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 11, 1966 |title=Chicago White Sox vs Baltimore Orioles Box Score: May 11, 1966 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL196605110.shtml |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He was part of the Orioles' 1966 World Series champion team, but did not appear in a World Series game. Brabender was 16–14 with a 3.39 ERA in 82 games (30 starts) during his time in Baltimore.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Gene Brabender Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brabege01.shtml |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He pitched the best game of his career on August 7, 1967, against the Cleveland Indians, tossing a four-hit shutout while striking out 12 batters.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 7, 1967 |title=Cleveland Indians vs Baltimore Orioles Box Score: August 7, 1967 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL196708070.shtml |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

According to author and former teammate Jim Bouton, when Brabender was set to join the Seattle Pilots, his would-be teammates were trying to conjure another nickname for this huge newcomer. When one Pilot pitcher shared that Brabender was tough enough to take the metal spikes that hold the bases in the ground and bend them in his bare hands, they agreed, "We better call him 'Sir.'" Brabender, who would return after baseball to work on his family's Wisconsin dairy farm, was also revealed in Bouton's later version of Ball Four to have been the clubhouse jokester who once nailed Bouton's shoes to the floor. Not only that but Brabender also "would scare guys half to death by shooting a dart into the wall abiove their heads with a homemade blowgun." Brabender's imposing physicality also later prompted Bouton in the mid-'70s to audition Brabender (aka "Bender") for the role of an intimidating teammate on the sitcom version of Ball Four (TV series), but ultimately another former pro athlete, Ben Davidson got the part.<ref name="Bouton">{{cite book |last1=Bouton |first1=Jim |title=Ball Four: The Final Pitch |date=2014 |publisher=Turner Publishing Company |location=Nashville, TN |isbn=978-1-63026-034-7 |pages=97, 404, 444}}</ref>

He along with Gordon Lund was traded from the Orioles to the Seattle Pilots for Chico Salmon on March 31, 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 1, 1969 |title=Pilots Land Brabender |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19690401&id=T5JYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SPgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4068,306178&hl=en |access-date=November 20, 2015 |website=Spokane Daily Chronicle |via=Google News}}</ref> Brabender led Seattle with 13 wins in their only season in the Pacific Northwest.<ref name=":1" /> The Pilots moved to Milwaukee during 1970 spring training and became the Brewers, and in what would be his final season, Brabender compiled a 6–15 record with one save and a 6.02 ERA in 29 games (21 starts).<ref name=":1" />

Brabender died of a brain aneurysm at age 55 on December 27, 1996.<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{reflist}} *1971 Baseball Register published by The Sporting News

==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=b/brabege01|fangraphs=1001293|brm=braben001eug|retro=B/Pbrabg101}}

{{1966 Baltimore Orioles}}

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