David Brown (June 9, 1895 – disappeared April 27, 1925)"Dave Brown Negro League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved June 8, 2012. was a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. Considered one of the better pitchers in Negro league history, he was also known for serious off-the-field problems. His career came to a premature end when he became a fugitive after allegedly killing a man in 1925.

Early career

Brown was born in

Leon County, Texas Leon County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,719. Its county seat is Centerville. History The legislature of the Republic of Texas authorized Leon County in 1846 from part of Robertson C ...

. He had a good

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

and excellent control. He was also a good fielder and had outstanding speed, but was a weak hitter. Brown played with the Dallas Black Giants in 1917 and 1918."Plenty of Baseball Provided for Fans of Dallas Today" Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, Sunday, August 11, 1918, Page 8, Column 2
/ref> He was regarded as a "timid nice guy" who did not cause trouble, but during his time with the

Dallas Black Giants The Dallas Black Giants were professional and semi-professional baseball teams based in Dallas, Texas which played in the Negro leagues. They were active on and off from 1908 to 1949. Among the leagues that the Black Giants played for were the Texa ...

he was involved in a highway

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

.Riley, p. 117. Although Brown was reported to have become a fugitive,

Rube Foster Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 – December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and executive in the Negro leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Foster, considered by historians to have been per ...

agreed to pay $20,000 for Brown's

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

and he became a member of Foster's

Chicago American Giants The Chicago American Giants were a Chicago-based Negro league baseball team. From 1910 until the mid-1930s, the American Giants were the most dominant team in black baseball. Owned and managed from 1911 to 1926 by player-manager Andrew "Rube" Fo ...

.Cottrell, p. 165.

Chicago American Giants Seasons

Brown became the

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

of the American Giants as they dominated negro league baseball in the early 1920s. From 1920 through 1922, he posted a 29-8 record in league games. His 11–3 record led them to a pennant win in 1921 including three victories in a playoff with the

Bacharach Giants The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founding The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 an ...

.Cottrell, p. 160. His 8–3 record contributed to another pennant in 1922.Cottrell, p. 163. In the winter following the 1922 season, Brown joined

Oscar Charleston Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. Over his 43-year baseball career, Charleston played or managed with more than a dozen teams, including the Home ...

for the first season of the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

's Santa Clara Leopardos.Heaphy, pp. 173-174.

League change and abrupt career end

For the 1923 season, Brown left Rube Foster's American Giants for the brand new

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

. Foster voiced his displeasure, pointing out that Brown had been paroled to him and that he had promised Brown's mother to take care of him. He pointed out that the public would vilify him if he revoked.Cottrell, p. 165. Brown posted a losing record in his first season with the

New York Lincoln Giants The Lincoln Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930. Founding The Lincoln Giants can trace their origins back to the Nebraska Indians, of Lincoln, Nebraska, from the 1890s. According to Sol White ...

but he and Charleston returned to Cuba the following winter and helped Santa Clara compile one of the best records in Cuban baseball history.Riley, p. 118.Heaphy, p. 174. His second season with the Lincoln Giants improved on the first and he defeated "Cannonball"

Dick Redding Richard Redding (April 15, 1890 – October 31, 1948), nicknamed "Cannonball", was an American pitcher, outfielder, and manager in baseball's Negro leagues, regarded as perhaps the fastest pitcher in the history of black baseball (which makes ...

and the

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. ...

to win the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

championship. Brown's career came to an abrupt end in 1925. He went to a bar on the night of April 27, 1925 with

Frank Wickware Frank Wickware (March 8, 1888 – November 2, 1967), nicknamed "Rawhide" and "The Red Ant", was a baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues from 1909 to 1925. In a nationally syndicated article written in 1915, it was said that Wickware "is anoth ...

and Oliver Marcelle.James, p. 184. Marcelle was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

with a reputation for trouble off the field. A fight erupted at the bar, possibly involving

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

, and Brown killed one of the participants, Benjamin Adair. Wickware and Marcelle were questioned the next day at the ballpark, but Brown had disappeared.

Rumors and legacy

The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

searched for Brown, but he was never officially seen again. Rumors abounded that he continued playing baseball under the alias "Lefty Wilson" with

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

teams through the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Lefty Wilson toured with

Gilkerson's Union Giants Gilkerson's Union Giants were an independent Negro semi-pro baseball team headed by Robert Gilkerson in the 1920s and 1930s. The team was noted as having played in 1920 and 1930 to 1931. Notable players * Ted "Double Duty Radcliffe" * John Donalds ...

in 1926,"Gilkerson Union Giants Swamp Knights of Columbus Nine 11 to 4" Davenport Democrat and Leader, Davenport, IA, Monday Evening, June 21, 1926, Page 7, Columns 1 and 2
/ref> a white team in Bertha, Minnesota in 1927 and 1928, and he was rumored to have played in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

in 1929 and

Little Falls, Minnesota Little Falls is a city in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States, near the geographic center of the state. Established in 1848, Little Falls is one of the oldest European-American cities in Minnesota. It is the county seat of Morrison County. ...

in 1930. More unsubstantiated rumors claimed that Brown died in mysterious circumstances in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1930. However, Lefty Wilson shows up again pitching for the

again in 1932. Reportedly, he was alive in 1938. In 1927, a ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

'' column solicited opinions for the best black baseball player of all time. On April 2,

John Henry Lloyd John Henry Lloyd (April 25, 1884 – March 19, 1964), nicknamed "Pop" and "El Cuchara", was an American baseball shortstop and manager in the Negro leagues. During his 27-year career, he played for many teams and had a .343 batting average. Lloy ...

announced his list which included Dave Brown.Cottrell, p. 175. When the ''Pittsburgh Courier'' announced a similar list in 1952, they included Brown on their second team.Cottrell, p. 182. Assuming that the Negro Leagues are considered to be major leagues, Brown has the highest

Adjusted ERA+ Adjusted ERA+, often simply abbreviated to ERA+ or ERA plus, is a pitching statistic in baseball. It adjusts a pitcher's earned run average (ERA) according to the pitcher's ballpark (in case the ballpark favors batters or pitchers) and the ERA of ...

in major league history (169), and the second highest pitcher's winning percentage after

Al Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised ...

(.738, 62–22).Major league pitcjer statistics at Baseball Reference
/ref>

Notes

References

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External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
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Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Dave 1895 births 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Baseball players from Texas Chicago American Giants players Fugitives wanted by the United States Leopardos de Santa Clara players People from Leon County, Texas Year of death unknown