Coe Brier first put his name in the Rowan County American Legion baseball record book 20
years ago, but his amazing hitting feats are still there to be aimed at by other players.Brier is the localLegion equivalent to Hall
of Famers like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Hack Wilson — and to current
star Mark McGwire.
The 37-year-old Salisburian holds
Legion career records of 43 home runs and 172 runs batted in, plus single-season marks of
22 homers and 81 RBIs.
David Trexler, now a star at
Catawba College, played four years of Legion ball — one more than did Brier —
and ranks second on the career list with 26 homers and 161 RBIs.
Brier not only leads in homers for
one season with his 22 in 1980, but he’s also No. 2 with 17 in 1979. Next closest
with 12 are Michael Lowman (1998) and Eric Wood (1992).
Lowman drove in 70 runs in 1998 to
rank second behind Brier’s 81 in the magnificent 1980 season. Brier is also third on
the all-time list with his 69 RBIs in 1979.
When Ruth belted 29 home runs in
1919, he almost doubled the old American League record of 16. He almost doubled it again
in 1920 with 54.
The Legion record was nine by
Derry Steedley in 1977. Two years later, Brier almost doubled it with 17.
Like Aaron, Brier is Rowan’s
career home run and RBIs leader. Like McGwire, he’s hit more homers in one season
than anyone else. Like Wilson, he’s the single-season RBIs record-holder.
“It really means a lot,”
said Brier of his local Legion records. “There’s been a lot of good ballplayers
come through here. There will be somebody come along after me to break my records. ...
Somebody will come up here and hit more home runs than me and be a better star than me
someday. I’d like to see it happen, in due time. I still keep up with the stats every
year to see if anybody’s getting close.”
Brier, who went on to play two
years of college ball at Clemson and two seasons of pro ball in the Minnesota Twins
organization, says his success in Legion ball was a factor in his returning to Salisbury
after graduating from Clemson in 1986.
“People in Salisbury have
always been real nice to me and supported me. I wanted to come back here and make my home
here just because of the people in the area,” he explained.
“I was real lucky. I had some
good coaching. Joe Ferebee was the type of coach who let you go out and play. I think he
took a lot of pressure off guys when they played, because he didn’t care how you
played as long as you played hard and just didn’t make any mental mistakes,”
Brier added.
Brier played his first season of
Legion ball as a left fielder in 1978, then was a catcher the next two years. He started
his career with only four homers in 1978, but, like Mantle, he hit the first of many
tape-measure blasts that season.
“I think the longest was at
Thomasville (Finch Field) when I was a sophomore at Salisbury High School,” he said,
referring to the summer after that school year. “I hit one out over dead center
field. I believe it was 420 feet to the fence. It went over the flagpole and hit out on
the street.”
How far did he think that blast
went?
“I don’t know. It
depends on how far that road might be back (behind the fence). It was maybe 480 or 500
feet,’’ Brier said.
Brier, discussing his career while
sitting at NewmanPark, added, “I hit a lot of long balls in Newman Park too, up in
the trees there.’’ He pointed to left-center field.
“It brings back a lot of good
memories when you come back out to NewmanPark. We had a lot of good competition through
the years when I played and a lot of good rivalries. When it gets dark out here, it’s
really neat the way the stadium looks. And, of course, all the fans have been great over
the years,” he said.
After hitting those four homers in
1978, Brier broke loose for 17 the next year to set a new Rowan record.
“It was real nice to break
Derry Steedley’s record (nine) in my second year. Bill Wilhelm told my dad, Steve,
that I’d never hit 17 the next year. Of course, I went on to hit 22. I did have
another good year,” Brier recalled.
Selected by the Cincinnati Reds in
the major league draft in 1978, Brier wasn’t ready to try pro ball.
“Johnny Bench was still
playing when I was drafted by the Reds out of high school. I didn’t feel like I was
going to be pushing Johnny Bench out of a job anytime soon, so I decided to go to
college,” he explained.
He chose to play for Wilhelm, a
China Grove native, in a successful program at Clemson. Two years later, when drafted by
the Twins, he gave pro ball a shot.
“I wasn’t quite as
successful there. I think my attitude changed about baseball on that particular level. I
lost a little enthusiasm for the game,’’ Brier said.
He returned to Clemson, graduated,
then came home, where he runs Brier Inc., a construction and development company. Brier
plans to be married soon to Lise Goetz, whom he met while traveling in Australia about 10
years ago. And, he’ll continue to live in Salisbury.
“It’s a nice feeling to
still get recognized by people and still have my name mentioned every once in a while in
the paper,” said the former Legion star. |
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