Jimmy Brown (baseball)
| Jimmy Brown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Infielder | |||
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Born: April 25, 1910 Jamesville, North Carolina | |||
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Died: December 29, 1977 (aged 67) Bath, North Carolina | |||
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 23, 1937, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 15, 1946, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .279 | ||
| Home runs | 9 | ||
| Runs batted in | 319 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
James Roberson Brown (April 25, 1910 – December 29, 1977) was a Major League Baseball infielder and coach.
Early life
Born in Jamesville, North Carolina, he played college baseball for the North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) Wolfpack.[1]
Career
He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals afterwards and made his major league debut two days before his 27th birthday. He made an immediate impact, not only scoring 9 triples his rookie year, but also leading the league in sacrifice hits with 26.[2] His 1938 season was not as impressive, but he did manage to increase his batting average over .300.[2] Brown had a career year in 1939, not only leading the league in at-bats with 645, but finishing 6th in MVP voting.[2] He began being known as a reliable leadoff hitter and as an infielder that the Cardinals could put anywhere, having played 1936 primarily as a second baseman, 1939 as a shortstop, and 1941 as a third baseman.[2]
After a decent season in 1940, he came back with another great year in 1941, tying a career high in triples with 9, earning a career high batting average with .306, and finishing 4th in MVP voting.[2] This, however, was still not enough to earn an all-star appearance. In 1942 he managed to earn his lone all-star appearance and finish 13th in MVP voting.[2] Despite this and leading the league in at-bats with 606, his batting average dipped to .256, a career low.[2] Despite this, during the 1942 World Series, he led all Cardinals' hitters in batting average with .300 en route to their World Series victory.[3]
Brown enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces after playing 34 games during the 1943 season.[4] When World War II ended, his contract was sold for $30,000 on January 5, 1946, to the Pittsburgh Pirates; he played the 1946 season as a utility infielder before being released by the Pirates on November 15.[5]
Upon retirement, he became a manager in the Pittsburgh farm system, with the Indianapolis Indians in 1947 and the New Orleans Pelicans in 1948.[6] Brown then returned to the National League as a coach for the Boston Braves, working for three seasons (1949–51) under his old Cardinal skipper, Billy Southworth.
Later life
After leaving Boston in 1952, he was a manager for minor league teams in the farm systems of the Cardinals, Braves and Cincinnati Reds. He died December 29, 1977 in Bath, North Carolina.
References
- ↑ "North Carolina State University Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues". Baseball-Almanac.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Jimmy Brown Statistics – Baseball-Reference.com". Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- ↑ "Jimmy Brown – BaseballLibrary.com". Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- ↑ "Those Who Served". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- ↑ "Jimmy Brown Baseball Statistics". Retrieved 2007-05-06.
- ↑ "History of New Orleans Baseball". Retrieved 2007-05-08.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- Jimmy Brown at Baseball Almanac