Thomas Tarlton Brown (September 21, 1860 – October 25, 1927) was an Anglo-American center fielder 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), ...

. Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England, son of William Henry Tarlton Brown and Mary Nixon Lewis, he played for 17 seasons, a career in which he batted .265 while scoring 1,524 runs with 1,958 hits. Upon his retirement he served as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, working mostly in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in 1898 and 1901–1902.

Career

In June , Tom signed with the

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 charter ...

, of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, as a non-drafted

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 ...

. As a

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

, he hit one

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 ...

with 23

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 ba ...

for that season with Baltimore. He was a right fielder for most of his early career, switching over to

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

later in his career. That year, the Orioles finished 6th in the league, and Brown was sent to the Columbus Buckeyes in an unknown transaction before the season. He played two seasons in Columbus, both of which he hit five home runs and drove in 32 runs. His best season with them occurred in , when he batted .273 and scored 93 runs in 106 games played. On October 30, 1884, the Buckeyes went under and the team, with all of its players, were purchased by the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

for a sum of $8,000. Highlights of his two and a half seasons with the Alleghenys include a .307 batting average in and 51 RBIs in . However, he struggled in and was released by Pittsburgh on August 15. He was picked up by the

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

, of the National League, a few days later, where he hit only .179 in 36 games. While at Indianapolis, Brown became part of the first known platoon arrangement in baseball, as he split time with right-handed hitting

Gid Gardner Franklin Washington "Gid" Gardner (May 6, 1859 – August 1, 1914) was a Major League Baseball player during the 19th century. Between 1879 and 1888, Gardner played all or part of seven seasons for eight different teams in three different major le ...

. Before the season, he was sent to the Boston Beaneaters. Brown was one of Boston's star players. As their starting

he hit nine home runs with 49 RBIs, and stole 46 bases. After the 1888 season,

Albert 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 ...

assembled two teams of players for a baseball world tour with Tom pitching for the "All America" team. The tour lasted until March 1889. For the season, he only hit two home runs, and drove in 24 runs, but placed third in the league with 63 stolen bases. He also scored 93 runs while only accumulating 84 hits. Brown jumped to the new Players' League, along with many other major league players, before the season. The league lasted just one season, and Tom signed with the Boston Reds. In that season with the Reds, he hit .274 with 4 home runs and 61 RBIs, and stole 79 bases. When the league folded after the season, the Reds continued on in the American Association in , where Brown had his greatest season, when he led the league in at bats, triples with 21, runs scored with 177, stolen bases with 106, base hits with 189. Behind Brown's hitting prowess, and with other star such as

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , wh ...

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwaukee ...

, and Charlie Buffinton, the Reds finished first in the league. After the 1891 season, the Association folded, Brown was granted to the league and was later obtained by the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

on January 1, 1892. He played in Louisville for three seasons, during which he stole a league-leading 66 bases in , hit 9 home runs in , and scored over 100 runs in each of his three seasons. On January 6, 1895, he was traded to the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

for

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 ...

Frank Shugart Frank Harry Shugart (December 10, 1866 – September 9, 1944) was an American professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Pirates, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns, Louisville Colonels, Philadel ...

. Brown played in 83 games for St. Louis before being released in August. He signed with the Washington Senators on August 21, 1895. Brown later served as the

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

of the Senators for the and seasons, winning 64 games and losing 72.

Career records

Brown established the major league record with 490 errors committed as an outfielder. He racked up 222 errors in the American Association, 238 in the National League, and 30 in the Player's League. By contrast, the National League record is held by nineteenth-century player

George Gore George F. Gore (May 3, 1854 – September 16, 1933), nicknamed "Piano Legs", was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for 14 seasons, eight for the Chicago White Stockings, five for the New York Giants, one for the St. ...

with 346 errors and the

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 ...

record by

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

with 271.

Other baseball capacities

After his retirement early in the 1898 season, he became an umpire and finished the season in the National League, umpiring a total of 96 games that year. During his time umpiring, he ejected seven players from games, three of which were in 1898. On September 30, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman

Nap Lajoie Napoléon "Nap" Lajoie (; September 5, 1874 – February 7, 1959), also known as Larry Lajoie and nicknamed "The Frenchman", was an American professional baseball second baseman and player-manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...

was sent to the bench after a heated argument, insisting Brown is crooked. Nap was suspended for three days. The following season, in he only umpired two games before becoming

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the minor league Springfield Ponies in the Eastern League. He returned to umpiring for the and seasons when he called 65 and 143 games respectively. He again left the profession until he returned for 12 more games in in the

Post baseball career

Tom was predeceased by his wife, Christine, and his daughter, Ethel May Brown Stratton. In later life he owned a tobacco store on M Street in Washington, DC. Tom died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 67, and is interred at the Fort Lincoln Cemetery in

Brentwood, Maryland Brentwood is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 3,828. Brentwood is located within of Washington. The municipality of Brentwood is located just outside the northeast boundary o ...

References

External links