Richard Ernest Brown (January 17, 1935 – April 17, 1970) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

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 ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. The native of

Shinnston, West Virginia Shinnston is a city and former coal town in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, along the West Fork River. In 1778, Levi Shinn constructed his log home along what is now Route 19; today it is the oldest standing structure in north-cent ...

, attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and . His brother Larry Brown had a 12-year MLB career (1963–74) as an infielder with four

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

teams. Originally signed by the Indians in 1953, Dick Brown made his big league debut on June 20, 1957 against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

at the age of 22. After three seasons with the Indians, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox on December 6, 1959, along with

Don Ferrarese Donald Hugh Ferrarese (born June 19, 1929), is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardi ...

Minnie Miñoso Orestes "Minnie" Miñoso (, ; born Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta; November 29, 1923 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "The Cuban Comet" and "Mr. White Sox", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Neg ...

and

Jake Striker Wilbur Scott "Jake" Striker (October 23, 1933 – March 7, 2013) was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played in and with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. Originally signed by the Indians in , the , Striker enj ...

for Norm Cash,

Bubba Phillips John Melvin "Bubba" Phillips (February 24, 1928 – June 22, 1993) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman from Macon, Mississippi. He played for ten seasons on the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians, fro ...

and

Johnny Romano John Anthony Romano Jr. (August 23, 1934 – February 24, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox (1958–1959, 1965–1966), Cleveland Indians (1960–1964 ...

. Brown caught for six pitchers who would eventually be inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. He played in 636 games over nine seasons, hitting .244 with 62

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 223

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. His best two seasons were the two he spent with Detroit: he hit 16 home runs in 1961 and 12 home runs in 1962. He had a career .989 fielding percentage. Career highlights include back-to-back-to-back home runs he hit with Norm Cash and

Steve Boros Stephen Boros Jr. (September 3, 1936 – December 29, 2010) was an American baseball infielder, coach (baseball), coach, manager (baseball), manager, scout (sport), scout, and administrator. Best known for his scientific approach to the sport and ...

on May 23, 1961. He hit a grand slam less than one month earlier on April 29. He played his final game on October 3, 1965. He had been expected to continue as the Orioles' starting catcher entering the 1966 season, but the discovery of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

early in

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

necessitated surgery to remove it on March 7. Additional surgery weeks later revealed another brain tumor, an inoperable one that effectively ended Brown's playing career and cost him his life. He served as a scout for the Orioles until his death at age 35 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1970.

References

External links

Dick Brown
at

SABR The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

(Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Dick 1935 births 1970 deaths Baltimore Orioles players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from West Virginia Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burials in Florida Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Maryland Detroit Tigers players Florida State Seminoles baseball players Green Bay Bluejays players Major League Baseball catchers Miami Marlins (IL) players Mobile Bears players Omaha Cardinals players People from Shinnston, West Virginia Reading Indians players Sherbrooke Indians players Spartanburg Peaches players Almendares (baseball) players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba