Lou Vann
| Date and Place of Birth: | October 26, 1909 Fall River, MA |
| Date and Place of Death: | May 21, 1943 Camp Pendleton, San Diego, CA |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Infield |
| Rank: | Private First Class |
| Military Unit: | United States Marine Corps |
| Area Served: | United States |
Lou Vann was born Luigi G. Varanese in Fall River, Massachusetts, at
one time the leading cotton textile center in the United States. Lou -
or Chet as he was known to his family - was one of ten children, and
quit school after eighth grade to help support his family. His father
Dominic would take young Lou to work with him at the cotton mill but Lou
had little interest in being a weaver. He wanted to play baseball, and
every opportunity he had he would grab a bat and get his brothers to
pitch to him.
Vann was soon playing shortstop for the town team and began his minor
league career in 1932, when he was signed by the New Haven Bulldogs of
the Class A Eastern League. He batted .260 in 68 games with the Bulldogs
and the following year he played briefly with the Harrisburg Senators of
the Class A New York-Penn League and the New Bedford Whalers of the
Class B New England League.
In 1934, seeing an opportunity to make more money than he could in the
minors, Vann joined the House of David club, a famous barnstorming team
with a religious background renowned for their long hair and beards. The
team toured rural America playing amateur and semi-pro teams in
exhibition games and even played against the Fall River All Stars with
Lou's brother Pat playing shortstop and his youngest brother Bill as
batboy. Vann remained with the House of David until being enticed to
return to Organized Baseball in 1938 by the Sydney Steel Citians of the
Class D Cape Breton Colliery League. Playing third base, he batted a
respectable .271, but was back on the road with the House of David in
1939, becoming an integral part of their renowned, crowd pleasing
"pepper game" and juggling act.
The House of David pepper game started like an ordinary game of pepper
with three players tossing the ball to a batter, who bunted it back to
them. Then the fielders started making false throwing motions and
passing the ball back and forth between themselves, occasionally varying
the procedure with a real toss to the batter, who often swung at the
false pitches as well as the genuine ones. The players handling the ball
increased the pace of their juggling until it was almost impossible for
the spectators to follow the ball in its flight. They passed it over
their shoulders, behind their backs, between their legs, and sometimes
hurled their gloves instead of the ball, and occasionally even removed
their shoes and tossed them to their companions. A slow motion variation
was also introduced in the act. [1]
Vann continued to play with the House of David through the summer of
1942, as well as playing winter ball in the Panama Canal Zone League
with Cristobal. But in late 1942, at the age of 33, he enlisted with the
Marines. Private First Class Varanese attended boot camp at Parris
Island, South Carolina and was later was stationed at Camp Pendleton,
near San Diego, California, with the 1st Radio Company, 2nd Radio
Battalion.
Varanese died at Camp Pendleton in an accident on May 21,
1943. He was survived by his wife and young son who were living in
Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Lou Vann is buried at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
|
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
|
| 1932 | New Haven | Eastern | A | 68 | 250 | 50 | 65 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 17 | .260 |
| 1933 | Harrisburg | New York-Penn | A | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1933 | New Bedford | New England | B | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1935-1937 | Played with House of David | |||||||||||
| 1938 | Sydney | Cape Breton Colliery | D | - | 85 | 15 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .271 |
| 1940-1942 | Played with House of David | |||||||||||
Notes
1. Charleston Gazette, April 25, 1937
Thanks to Shirley and William Varanese for help with this biography. Thanks also to Astrid van Erp for help with photos for this biography
Date Added May 14, 2012 Updated July 28, 2020
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