Hal Brown

Hector Harold Brown (December 11, 1924 – December 17, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1951 through 1964 for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Houston Colt .45s.[1] Brown was a knuckleballer with outstanding control who worked as both a starting pitcher and as a relief pitcher. He played for all or portions of eight seasons (1955–1962) with the Orioles, posting a 62–48 won–lost record, and was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1991.[2] He was a veteran of the United States Army Air Forces who served in the European theatre of World War II.[3]

This article is about the baseball player. For the runner, see Hal Brown (athlete).

Hal Brown
Pitcher
Born: (1924-12-11)December 11, 1924
Greensboro, North Carolina
Died: December 17, 2015(2015-12-17) (aged 91)
Greensboro, North Carolina
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 1951, for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 16, 1964, for the Houston Colt .45s
MLB statistics
Win–loss record85–92
Earned run average3.81
Strikeouts710
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Baseball career

Brown was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and was nicknamed "Skinny" by his parents because he was a chubby child.[4] Brown weighed 180 pounds (82 kg) and stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall during his active career. He was 26 years old when the White Sox purchased his contract from the Triple-A Seattle Rainiers and he made his major league debut with the team on April 19, 1951. He spent two years with the ChiSox before moving to the Red Sox, the team that had originally signed him to a pro contract in 1946. Brown enjoyed a good season with Boston in 1953, going 11–6 in 25 starts. He joined the Orioles in July 1955, winning 34 games for them from 1956 to 1959. His most productive season came in 1960, when he compiled a 12–5 mark with a career-low 3.06 ERA for a contending Baltimore team that finished second in the American League. The next year, he ended 10–6 and 3.19, pitching 36 consecutive shutout innings, to set a team record. He was sold to the pennant-bound Yankees in September 1962.

Brown worked in two late-season games for the Yankees, and was ineligible for the Bombers' 1962 World Series roster. He was purchased by the Colt .45s at the outset of the 1963 season. It was the third time that Houston general manager Paul Richards, who managed Brown in Seattle in 1950, had acquired the right-handed pitcher — he had done so in 1951 when Richards managed the White Sox and in 1955 when he was both general manager and field manager with the Orioles.

With Houston in 1963, Brown was a victim of poor run support, as he walked just eight batters in 141 innings and posted a 3.31 ERA, but tallied just a 5–11 record. In 1964, his last major league season, he finished 3–15 despite a decent 3.95 ERA.

In a 14-season major league career, Brown posted an 85–92 record with a 3.81 ERA in 358 appearances, including 211 starts, 47 complete games, 13 shutouts, 11 saves, 1,680 innings pitched, and a 1.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio (710-to-389). He allowed 1,677 hits, but only 389 bases on balls, 14 hit by pitches and 37 wild pitches as a major leaguer.

League Leader

References
  1. "Greensboro knuckleballer 'Skinny' Brown lived Hall of Fame life". News & Record. December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  2. "Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame at MLB.com". mlb.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  3. Information at Baseball in Wartime
  4. The Baseball Library Archived 2012-11-17 at the Wayback Machine
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