Thomas Michael Brown (born December 6, 1927) 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 ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. He made his

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) debut with his hometown Brooklyn Dodgers at 16 years and 241 days old, starting 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 ...

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pro ...

against the Chicago Cubs, on August 3, 1944, during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

manpower shortage. Brown thus became the youngest non-pitcher to ever play in a major league game, and the second-youngest overall after

Joe Nuxhall Joseph Henry Nuxhall (; July 30, 1928 – November 15, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds. Immediately after retiring as a player, he became a radio broadcaster for the Reds f ...

, who was 15 years and 316 days old when he first appeared as a hurler for the Cincinnati Reds on June 10, 1944. In Brown's debut game, he collected his first big-league

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

off the Cubs'

Bob Chipman Robert Howard Chipman (October 11, 1918 – November 8, 1973) was an American professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who spent all or parts of a dozen seasons in the Major League Baseball from 1941 to 1952 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, ...

, and in the field handled three chances, with one

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, as the Dodgers fell, 6–2. Nicknamed "Buckshot", Brown threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall, and weighed . The

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

native had signed with the Dodgers after a 1943 tryout and spent the first four months of the 1944 season with

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

of the Class B

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmont ...

; while there, Brown collected 101 hits and a league-leading 11 triples, and batted .297 before his recall to Brooklyn in August. He appeared in 46 games for the Dodgers through the end of that season. The following year, 1945, Brown batted .286, with ten home runs, in 85 games, playing in the top-level

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 ...

, and appeared in another 57 contests for Brooklyn, becoming a 103-game big-league veteran before his 18th birthday. He became the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the major leagues on August 20, 1945, at the age of 17. Brown spent 1946 in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, then in 1947, the second postwar season, returned to a Dodgers team with a set lineup that included Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop

Pee Wee Reese Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese (July 23, 1918 – August 14, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958. A ten-time All-Star ...

. He became a utility man for the remainder of his MLB career, appearing in 166 games as a

, 94 as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, 50 as 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 ...

, 24 as a second baseman, and 21 as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. The Dodgers traded Brown to the Philadelphia Phillies in June 1951, and the Phils sold his contract to the Chicago Cubs a little more than a year later. As a hitter, Brown batted over .300 twice in part-time duty (1949 and 1952). On September 18, 1950, against the Cubs at Ebbets Field, Brown hit three home runs and a single, with a base on balls, in five plate appearances, scoring three runs and collecting five

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 ...

(RBI). The Dodgers, however, lost the game, 9–7. Brown's big-league career came to an end September 25, 1953, as a member of the Cubs; he had played in 494 games during all or parts of nine

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 ...

(NL) seasons, and was 25 years of age. Brown's 309 MLB hits included 39 doubles, seven triples, and 31 homers. He hit .241 lifetime with 159 runs batted in. Brown appeared as a pinch hitter in the

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th championship in team history. This victory would start a record ...

and went hitless in two

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

, as Brooklyn fell to 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 of ...

in five games. He played minor league baseball through 1959 before retiring.

References

External links

Tommy Brown
at Baseball Library
Tommy Brown
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Tommy 1927 births Living people United States Army soldiers Baseball players from New York (state) Brooklyn Dodgers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago Cubs players Industriales de Valencia players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball shortstops Nashville Vols players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Newport News Dodgers players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sportspeople from Brooklyn