Larry Leslie Brown (born March 1, 1940) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, who played 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 ...

, Oakland Athletics,

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight char ...

, and Texas Rangers of

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). His brother, Dick Brown, also played in Major League Baseball. He was originally signed by the Indians in , and on July 6, 1963, against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

, he made his big league debut at the age of 23. Pinch-hitting for

Tito Francona John Patsy Francona (November 4, 1933 – February 13, 2018) was a Major League Baseball player. As a child, he was nicknamed "Tito" by his father. His son, Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, is also sometimes referred to as "Tito." Balt ...

, he struck out in his first at-bat, but he collected a single in his second plate appearance. As a starter for Cleveland between and , his batting averages were consistently low – his highest batting average during that span was .253, while his lowest was .227. On May 4, 1966, Brown was seriously injured after running into Indians teammate Leon Wagner while playing the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Brown suffered a skull fracture and facial injuries and was admitted to the Lenox Hill Hospital. He was on the disabled list for six weeks, returning to the active roster on June 17. He struck out in one plate appearance as a pinch hitter and played second base for two innings late in the game as Cleveland lost to the Yankees in New York. In , he lost his starting job to a young

Jack Heidemann Jack Seale Heidemann (born July 11, 1949 in Brenham, Texas) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop between and for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Milw ...

, and on April 24, 1971, he was sold to the Athletics for an estimated $50,000. He would end up hitting below .200 during his time with the Athletics, and in he was signed by the Orioles. He played only 17 games with them that season, batting .250. He finished his career with the Rangers in 1974. He played his final game on September 29 of that year. Overall, he hit .233 with 47 career home runs and 254 RBI. Brown ranked in the top 5 in sacrifice hits ( and ). He also ranked in the top ten in intentional walks in 1968, and because of his good eye at the plate, he ranked in the top ten for best at-bats per strikeout ratio twice ( and ). His fielding percentage stood at .966.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Larry 1940 births Living people People from Shinnston, West Virginia Major League Baseball infielders Baseball players from West Virginia Cleveland Indians players Oakland Athletics players Baltimore Orioles players Texas Rangers players Cocoa Indians players Salt Lake City Bees players