A native of Tennessee, Lou Fitzgerald had a career in professional baseball as player, manager, and scout which spanned over four decades. It all started at Bradley County High School, where Fitzgerald earned eleven letters and was captain of the school’s state championship basketball team in 1940. But baseball was his first love, and when World War II ended, Fitzgerald was signed by the Chattanooga Lookouts and assigned to Natchez, Mississippi. In nine years as a player in the upper minor leagues, he failed only twice to bat over .300. In 1951 Fitzgerald began a managerial career at Shawnee, Oklahoma, and led his team to a second-place finish. His career took him to major stopping points in Texas, Florida, and other southern states. In eighteen years, his teams won four championships and finished second twice. He was chosen manager of the year on six occasions and named to lead his league’s all-star team four times. A few of the major-leaguers he guided through the first stages of their careers include Johnny Bench, Rusty Staub, Joe Morgan, Dusty Baker, and Jerry Grote. In 1970 Fitzgerald joined the scouting department of the Braves and, except for a year with the Philadelphia Phillies, remained with the Atlanta club for over eighteen years. A man who has always had baseball in his blood, Lou Fitzgerald devoted his professional life to the game he loves best, and in so doing, has made the state of Tennessee mighty proud.
