Sharing Baseball Stories Through Baseball Cards – Part 1, A Philadelphia A’s Baseball Player Named Bris Lord

About a month or so ago, I was in Chester, PA on a work trip (ArcBest). In addition to my training sessions with staffers and management, I let everyone know that I was a huge baseball fan and loved hearing local baseball stories. A few employees at the terminal offered up their views on the Phillies as well as other local minor league teams like the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Jersey Shore Blue Claws. One employee waited until I was finished with my training and hearing the other stories to let me know that she had a really good story for me. Her grandfather had played professional baseball. His name, Bris Lord.

According to his bio online (which is always correct), Bristol Robotham Lord played parts of 8 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1905-1913. Bris, as he was called, played for the Philadelphia A’s, the Cleveland Naps (named after RI’s Nap Lajoie), and the Boston Braves. Among Lord’s many claims to fame was a trade he was involved in. A trade which sent him from the A’s to Cleveland for Morrie Rath and the one and only, Shoeless Joe Jackson. Lord was a 2 time World Series Champion with the A’s, had a career batting average of .256 and hit 13 home runs. Bris Lord, post baseball, was a valued community member of Upland, PA for his local fire department and church. Bris Lord passed away at the age of 81 – a full life indeed on and off the field.

It was so fun hearing about Bris Lord from his granddaughter and seeing her face light up speaking about him. Although his granddaughter did not have a ton of statistics or baseball jargon to give me, just the lead on the story was good enough for me. I love research and loved reading about Bris Lord and his incredible life on and off the field. Here are his stats by the way:

I have a baseball friend that I have kept up communications with over the past several months. This friend has a personal connection to the A’s organization from decades ago and we chat from time to time exchanging baseball stories. So, I mentioned the clerk in Chester, PA and her baseball playing grandfather, Bris Lord. She loved the story and sent me a really cool story in return. Here is a sneak peek as to who the story is about.

Stay tuned for Part II of the stories connected by baseball cards, featuring A’s Catcher, Joe Astroth. If you have a connection to Bris Lord or Joe Astroth, I would love to hear from you. Send me a message and let’s chat.