On January 2, former Illini head coach Lee Eilbracht passed away at the age of 88. With 515 wins in his 27 years as skipper, Eilbracht is the winningest coach in Illini history.
“We have lost a great part of our Illini family,” head coach Dan Hartleb said. “Lee was always very visible and really cared about the Illinois baseball program. He has tremendous knowledge of the game of baseball and was always well respected by his peers. He not only brought great recognition to baseball at Illinois, but also at the national and international levels.”
As a player, Eilbracht batted .484 for the Illini in in 1946. He followed that up by winning All-American honors in 1947. After he graduated, he was drafted and played six years in pro baseball including nearby minor league teams Danville and Decatur.
Once Eilbracht was done with pro ball, he came back to the University of Illinois. From 1952-1975, he was head coach of the baseball team. He had immediate success winning conference titles in 1952 and 1953. Ten years later, he followed that up with Big Ten championships in 1962 and 1963 (almost making the College World Series in 1963).
Lee Eilbracht also was an Olympic coach for the USA baseball team in 1964 in Japan. He served as the first executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association. After retiring, he worked as analyst on Illini broadcasts an even consulted for the movie “A League of Their Own”.
Eilbracht leaves quite a legacy for Illinois baseball fans to consider. Eilbracht was said to have an “uncanny talent for predicting the future”. So much so, he garnered the nickname “the Swami”. Yes, there is the outstanding talent and skill as a player compounded by his knowledge of the game which translated into conference titles and championships. But more than that, the era that he managed produced a plethora of talented Illini baseball players that went on to bigger and better things. Most notably, pitcher Ken Holtzman, catcher Tom Haller and infielder Ed Spiezio went on to not only be drafted but have productive careers in the major leagues.
If you are looking for more information on Lee Eilbracht and the era he played, I suggest taking a look at FightingIllini.com’s Illinois Retrospective: The 1950s and Illini Retrospective: The 1960s. There’s some good info there.
Illini HQ: A Life Remembered: Lee Eilbracht