Ronald George Brand (born January 13, 1940) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He 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), ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

, and was an original member of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Brand originally signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after attending

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, in ...

, he spent five seasons in their farm system before debuting with the big league club in . He hit his first major league

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 ...

on June 20, off Denny Lemaster of the Milwaukee Braves.

Houston Astros

After spending all of in the minors, Brand was selected in the 1964 rule 5 draft by the Houston Colt .45s, who rebranded as the Astros ahead of the season.Astrodome Houston-Astros.com
/ref> John Bateman was Houston's Opening Day starting catcher in 1965, however, he soon lost his starting job to Brand. On August 18, Brand hit his second home run of the season, and the third of his career. He never hit another major league home run. In , Bateman won back the starting catcher job, and Brand became the back-up. They split catching duties pretty evenly in , but Brand began the season with the Astros' Pacific Coast League triple A affiliate, the

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, and only appeared in 29 games behind the plate for the Astros.

Montreal Expos

On October 14, 1968, Bateman was drafted by the

as the sixth overall pick in the

1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft The 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft was conducted to stock up the rosters of four expansion teams in Major League Baseball created via the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion and which would begin play in the 1969 season. The expansio ...

; 52 picks later, the Expos selected Brand, and the two resumed their platoon in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. This platoon only lasted one season as in Brand assumed more of a utility infielder role. In , Brand only caught two innings, however, made 22 appearances at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

. He spent all of with the Expos' triple A affiliate, the Peninsula Whips, and was released at the end of the season. He joined the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in , and spent the entire season in Bakersfield, California as player/manager of their California League affiliate before retiring.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brand, Ron 1940 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from Los Angeles Burlington Bees players Clinton Pirates players Columbus Jets players Houston Astros players Kinston Eagles players Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Montreal Expos players New York Yankees scouts Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Whips players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Jose Pirates players Roswell Rockets players North Hollywood High School alumni