Alaska baseball icon Van Brunt dies at 78

Van Brunt, 78, had been hospitalized with respiratory problems and died of a heart attack, Pilots general manager Jon Dyson said.

Van Brunt touched a generation's worth of players, from superstar big-leaguers like Randy Johnson and Mark McGwire who spent a summer or two honing their skills in the Alaska Baseball League, to local kids like Dyson, who parlayed talents nurtured by Van Brunt first into a college career and then into a job as the Pilots' GM.

"He always put a smile on people's faces, he always had candy to hand out and he always knew the right thing to say to lift your spirits," Dyson said. "He was like a grandfather to a lot of kids in town."

A former minor-league pitcher, Van Brunt was a left-hander who became known as "Lefty" when he was a kid and the name stuck. His real name was George, but even his mother called him Lefty.

Pitching was his prowess, but Van Brunt spent enough time around the game -- and around top coaches and players -- that he knew hitting too.

"He was a one-of-a-kind guy," said Steve Nerland, president of the Alliance for Support of American Legion Baseball in Anchorage. "I think every great ballplayer that came out of Anchorage -- probably hundreds of players who have played college ball -- Lefty worked with every one of them at some time in their career."

Back in the 1960s, his employers at SeaLand allowed Van Brunt to use the company's warehouse near the port as an indoor baseball facility. There he tutored scores of kids who wanted to sharpen their games during the long, dark winters.

"Then after that I can remember five or six warehouses, including the bunker at Kincaid, and commercial warehouses that were not leased and he found a way to get into them," Nerland said.

Until the last couple of years when his health became an issue, Van Brunt spent three or four nights a week at one warehouse or another. He worked with every high school team and every American Legion team in town.

"And he never wanted a dime," Nerland said.

He was best known for his connection with the Pilots, who each summer field a team of college players, some of them top major-league prospects. One tale that has become near-legendary is the time in 1984 when Van Brunt was catching Johnson during warmups. A fastball got away from him and hit him in the foot and when Van Brunt stood up, he was hobbling. The Big Unit had broken Lefty's big toe.

Van Brunt's passion was teaching the game, especially pitching, but he took on whatever job needed doing for the Pilots, even that of general manager.

He was almost always the first to arrive and the last to leave Mulcahy Stadium for a game or a practice. In the morning, he watered the fields. In the afternoon, he coached guys in the bullpen. In the evening, he tossed Tootsie Pops to fans between innings.

"My greatest respect for Lefty was if there was any job that needed to be done, Lefty was there to do it," said Dick Lobdell, the former Pilots radio announcer. "On the field, off the field, if it had to be done, Lefty was the guy who wound up doing it."

Van Brunt's pro career ended when he joined the Air Force during the Korean War. He was shipped to Anchorage in 1951 and never left.

He was the pitching coach for the Pilots' first two seasons in 1969 and 1970. Then came a long break from the game as he struggled with alcoholism, something Van Brunt freely talked about in later years.

He returned to the club in 1984. In 2008, the Pilots created the Lefty Van Brunt Award, which goes to the season's top pitcher.

This year, the club had plans to turn July 14 into a celebration of Van Brunt's 79th birthday, Lobdell said. Now the occasion will be used to honor Van Brunt's legacy.

"He was looking forward to spending another summer out here," Dyson said. "Last week he was excited about the summer coming up and the guys coming to town."