It’s just the nature of life that some people end up passing away at way too young an age. As we do our Yankees’ Birthdays series, we’re unfortunately going to come across some of them here too. While the name Fritz Brickell might not mean as much to you as some other tragic Yankee deaths, 30 is no age for anyone to pass away. With today being what would’ve been his 91st birthday, let’s look back on his life.
Fritz Darrell Brickell Born: March 19, 1935 (Wichita, KS) Died: October 15, 1965 (Wichita, KS) Yankees
Tenure: 1958-59
Born in 1935 in Kansas, Fritz Brickell was the son of former MLB player Fred Brickell. The elder Brickell played in the majors from 1926-33 for the Pirates and Phillies, appearing for Pittsburgh in their 1927 World Series loss to the Yankees.
With his size listed at 5-foot-7, 160 pounds, Fritz was never an overly impressive athlete, but he still played a number of sports in his youth. One of them was baseball, and it was on the diamond where he stood out. After impressing at a Kansas semipro tournament, he caught the eye of the Yankees, who signed him in 1953.
Mostly playing the middle infield, Brickell had solid power for someone playing those positions in that area, and worked his way up to Triple-A by 1957. The following year, he got a callup to the majors, and made his debut as a defensive replacement on April 30th. After making two appearances in the early part of the 1958 season, Brickell returned to the minors for the rest of that season. He suffered a setback later that season after breaking his ankle, which probably prevented a return to the bigs in ‘58.
Brickell was eventually called back up by the Yankees in June of 1959. He went on to record his first major league hit on July 4th, got his first major league start on July 19th, and his first major league home run on July 25th. It was actually a semi-important homer too, as it was a two-run shot that gave the Yankees a lead in a game they eventually won 9-8.
However, with the likes of Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, and Clete Boyer all around and pretty young, the Yankees didn’t have a massive need in the middle infield, and eventually sent Brickell back down to the minors. Upon his return there, he was actually suspended at first after failing to report on time.
In 1960, Brickell would spend the entire 1960 season with the Triple-A Richmond Virginians. The Yankees apparently began to try and find suitors for him in a trade, but nothing much would come until the following season. In spring training 1961, Brickell played very well, and the expansion California Angels developed an interest in him. A couple weeks before the start of the season, the Yankees sent him to the Angels in exchange for pitcher Duke Maas (who we profiled in a birthday piece already), who had only gone to California in their expansion draft earlier that offseason.
With the Angels, Brickell did get an extended chance in the majors. He was the team’s starting shortstop on Opening Day in the team’s first ever game in history. He recorded a hit as California got their existence off to a winning start, beating the Orioles.
Despite that decent start, Brickell couldn’t stick with the Angels either. While he had three hits in his first four games with the Angels, he then went into a 3-for-38 slump over his next 17 games. Eventually, the expansion Angels decided that wasn’t enough for them and sold him to the Triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs. He played one further season in the minors before returning to his native Wichita.
At some point in the next couple years, Brickell was diagnosed with cancer of the jaw. Former teammates like Mickey Mantle chipped in, holding a hitting exhibition back in Kansas at a “Fritz Brickell Night” held in Wichita. Brickell eventually passed away from the disease in 1965. He was survived by a wife and two children. Following his passing, he was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame, where he joined his father.
Oh, and before his MLB career actually began, Brickell appeared on the game show “To Tell the Truth.” Video of that appearance still exists today.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
