On Feb. 24, Choptalk Editor/Publisher Gary Caruso had the honor of delivering the eulogy at a memorial service for Lou Burdette, a member of the Braves Hall of Fame, who died Feb. 6. following is the text of that eulogy.

There are few things as precious to me as my memories of the Milwaukee braves of the 1950s... the man we are here to remember and to honor is a huge reason for that.

Selva Lewis Burdette... I grew up knowing him as "fidgety Lou"...

Former Braves manager Fred Haney used to say, "Burdette would make coffee nervous," because of all his gyrations on the mound.

I also grew up knowing him as the most valuable player of the 1957 World Series. He put on a pitching display of positively mythical proportion against the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and the rest of a great Yankees team...

But it was no myth... Lou pitched 3 complete game victories over the highly favored Yankees... almost single handedly pitching the Braves to the World Championship... that was a Braves team loaded with stars - Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Red Schoendienst... and plenty of others, including Ernie Johnson and Gene Conley, who are here with us today...

For sure, Burdette didn't win the series all by himself... but he came as close as any man has come to doing exactly that...

27 innings... only 2 runs allowed... and no runs - zero - over the final 24 innings! that's the second-longest streak in history for one world series - and the longest for the last 101 years!... positively mythical in proportion...

Before 1957, no one had done anything to match that since Christy Mathewson in 1905... and no one has done it since.

As all of us who know baseball realize, it will never be duplicated either, unless baseball turns back the clock on how the game is played... and pitched.

I could talk about just Burdette's role in the 1957 series until you run me out the door... I will spare you that - because there is so much more to talk about.

More important than anything else is Lou Burdette - the man... those fortunate enough to know him... as i imagine most of you did... realize that he was a delightful man to be around... no 'airs' at all... I've told several people since his passing that he was the kind of guy you'd love to have as a neighbor and friend - even if he never picked up a baseball and became a star.

But you better not turn your back on that rascal - right, Gene? right, Ernie?

Has anyone ever had more fun as a ballplayer than Lou Burdette had - usually in tandem with Warren Spahn, his old roomie and partner in countless practical jokes... some of them nearly as legendary as their pitching exploits...

I told Lou's daughter - Elaina - that her dad and Spahnie probably have already given a 'hot foot' to some unsuspecting angels up there... california angels, no doubt!

As most of you know, Lou's hearing troubles the last few years could make it a challenge to communicate with him. But he always knew what story I wanted him to tell, and he was always more than happy to oblige.

It's a story that recalls the lost innocence and good times from a different era of baseball, when men played to feed their families - not their agents and brokers.

It seems that Lou and some Braves teammates were in New York and decided to go out for a few beers after the game... I'm sure that was a very rare occurrence!

The establishment they visited also was hosting some hockey players...

Lou told me: "You know those hockey players. Before the night is over... there's going to be a fight."

And he smiled that smile that in my opinion was worthy of a Hollywood actor... and he continued...

"Sure enough, after we'd all had a few, there's going to be a fight!"

The first time he told me the story, I got a little worried. Are Lou and my beloved Braves about to get beat up? Will they wind up in jail?

As it turned out, Lou and the Braves also were smart - another reason they won so many games. They were simply bystanders to the fight... innocent or not, you can decide.

"They're all going outside - the hockey players and this other crowd," Lou says. "You know all those hockey players have false teeth," and he put his hand to his mouth as if to adjust his... "before they went outside, they all took out their teeth and put them on the bar!"

And I wish you could have seen the twinkle in his eyes at this point.

"They go out and have their fight, and we just waited... but while they were outside, we moved around all their teeth on the bar so they wouldn't know which was which when they came back!"

He looked like a magician doing a shell game as he demonstrated with his hands...

"Sure enough," Lou says, "They come back in and when they go to put in their teeth, they don't fit right! We just shrugged our shoulders!"

Lou laughed and laughed - every time he told the story... and, by the way, he said the hockey players laughed, too!

Lou Burdette loved to have a good time and loved to laugh, and as sad as his passing is, he would want us to laugh and have a good time in remembering him.

Though it is the 1957 World Series for which Lou will best be remembered, I think there's one single game - one of the most monumental in history - that better than any other demonstrates the sort of pitcher and the sort of man he was.

It's been referred to as "the night the kitten purred." That night was May 26, 1959, at Milwaukee's county stadium. It was the night Pittsburgh's Harvey Haddix - nicknamed "the kitten" - purred to the tune of 12 perfect innings against one of baseball's most-potent lineups.

Thirty-six Braves up... and 36 Braves down - a lineup that included Aaron, Mathews and Joe Adcock...

What sort of pitcher... what sort of man... not only stands up to the type of adversary Haddix was that night, but beats him?

That's what Lou Burdette did - he was on the other end of what often is considered the greatest game ever pitched... he didn't pitch it - he just won it!

While Haddix wasn't giving up anything, Lou gave up 12 hits to the pirates... all, however, were singles... and he didn't walk a single man.

The Braves managed just one hit in the bottom of the 13th and beat Haddix, 1-0, in one of the most bizarre endings to a game ever recorded.

Lou told me that afterwards, he called Haddix in the clubhouse and said, "Harvey, you should have known better than to bunch your hits!" he said Haddix hung up on him. Lou meant no harm. He just wanted to lighten the load Haddix undoubtedly felt from the defeat. That was Lou - he wanted everyone to have a good time.

The courage it took to face that type of challenge and win is something only those who have competed at the highest level of this great game can truly comprehend... but the rest of us certainly can appreciate it.

Besides illustrating Lou's courage and gamesmanship, that game also portrays his pitching style...

Opposing teams knew they'd get their hits off Lou - except on Aug. 18, 1960 when he pitched his only no-hitter... but getting runs off him was another matter.

He was crafty and clever... didn't mind giving up basehits... seldom walked anyone... was supremely confident he would get out of any jam with little or no damage. He went after the hitters... sometimes, the hitters won... but Lou certainly did all right for himself.

Not to get bogged down in statistics... but those who understand baseball undoubtedly marvel at a man who can pitch an entire season giving up more home runs than walks... very few have ever done it - in 1962... Lou gave up 26 homers and only 23 walks.

A fluke? How about this... in 1959 - the year he beat Haddix in 13 innings - Lou led the National League with 21 wins... he worked 289 2/3 innings... and catch this... gave up 38 home runs... and walked the exact same number - just 38... 3 of them intentional (that's one walk about every 8 innings). Greg Maddux-like, if you want a contemporary comparison.

Just one more stat I'd like to leave with you...

In the 9-year period from 1953-1961, Lou won 15 or more games eight times... only his buddy, Warren Spahn, did it all nine years... and no one else - including Hall of Famers Whitey Ford and Robin Roberts - did it more than six times.

Just how good was Lou Burdette? I went to a pretty good source to find out, and this is what he said...

"I have always felt what Lou did was taken for granted. If anybody should be considered for the Hall of Fame, it is him. Look at his record... it is so similar to Don Drysdale's. Lou was a great pitcher, and I do think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."

That came from none other than the all-time home run king, Hank Aaron, two days ago.

Selva Lewis Burdette had few peers among pitchers of his era, and no one in any era ever had more sheer fun as a ballplayer than the man we're here to say goodbye to...

We all love you and miss you Lou... but we know you're better off now that you're free of your aging body... free to join Eddie (Mathews) and Joe (Adcock) and Bob (Buhl) and others from those fabulous Milwaukee Braves teams for a great game Hollywood tells us is played in an Iowa cornfield... and free - of course - to run rampant with Spahnie once again... you two try to behave yourselves!