Leo Pinsky (28 September 1926 in Hartford, Connecticut - 12 April 2018 in West Hartford, Connecticut) was a member of the Connecticut High School Coaches Hall of Fame and was the first

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

coach to win three state

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

championships (1957, 1965, 1978). He won 411 games and 12 league titles in 31 seasons coaching the Farmington Indians, holding a losing record only once. Pinsky coached

Dick McAuliffe Richard John McAuliffe (November 29, 1939 – May 13, 2016) was an American professional baseball shortstop / second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers (1960–73) and Boston Red Sox (1974–75). He was a ...

, who played with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Pinsky was named the outstanding coach for the year 1965 by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association after winning his second state title that year. In 1986, Pinsky was named to the Hall of Fame for Greater Hartford Jewish Athletes. In 1988 he received the Baseball Coach Gold Award from '' Scholastic Coach Magazine'', and in 1989 he was inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was unanimously voted to receive the Red O'Neill Award from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, citing his character, leadership, athletic ability and successful career. Also in 2003 he was inducted into the Hartford Public High School Sports Hall of Fame. Pinsky was a three-sport athlete at Hartford High School (C '44) and played both baseball and football at the

(C '50). In five years he never had a punt blocked. Until recently Leo, along with his brothers Jules, David, and Albert held a national collegiate record for the most football letters by a single family (13 from 1933 to 1949).See Huskies, All-Time Letterrwinners, at 138, Pinsky was drafted into the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

in the fall of his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. A ...

year of college. He went through basic training at

Parris Island Parris is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Parris Afton Bonds, American novelist * Parris Campbell (born 1997), American football player * Parris Duffus (born 1970), retired American ice hockey goa ...

and also trained at

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilmi ...

under the legendary Marine officer Lewis "Chesty" Puller. Pinsky later served on the South Pacific island of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

where he played baseball and famously hit two grand slams in an 8-7 win over the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinsky, Leo 1926 births 2018 deaths Jewish American baseball coaches United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II 21st-century American Jews Sports coaches from Connecticut Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut Baseball players from Hartford, Connecticut High school baseball coaches in the United States UConn Huskies baseball players UConn Huskies football players Jewish American baseball players Jews from Connecticut