Gates Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gates Brown |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Brown in 1966
|
|||
| Left fielder | |||
| Born: May 2, 1939 Crestline, Ohio |
|||
| Died: September 27, 2013 (aged 74) Detroit, Michigan |
|||
|
|||
| debut | |||
| June 19, 1963, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| September 26, 1975, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .257 | ||
| Home runs | 84 | ||
| Runs batted in | 322 | ||
| Teams | |||
|
|||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
|
|||
William James "Gates" Brown (born May 2, 1939 – died September 27, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball player. He played as a left fielder for his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Tigers from 1963 to 1975. Gates Brown was known for batting left-handed and throwing right-handed.
Early Life and Baseball Beginnings
Gates Brown was born in 1939 in Crestline, Ohio. He went to Crestline High School. There, he played football as a tailback. He also played baseball in different leagues, including Pony League and high school. He played as a catcher, just like his dad.
After his second year of high school, Gates got into some trouble. He spent his third year at a special school for young people who had gotten into trouble. He returned to Crestline High for his last year, but he was not allowed to play sports.
When he was 18, Gates got into trouble with the law again. He was sent to a special facility for young adults in Mansfield, Ohio. He stayed there for 22 months. A guard who coached the facility's baseball team encouraged him to join. The coach was very impressed with Gates's batting skills.
Baseball scouts from the Detroit Tigers, Frank Skaff and Pat Mullin, helped Gates leave early. They signed him to play baseball for $7,000. Other teams like the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians were also interested. Gates chose the Tigers because they didn't have any Black players yet. He also knew about the "short right porch" at Tiger Stadium, which was good for left-handed hitters like him.
Baseball Career
Playing in the Minor Leagues
After joining the Tigers, Gates Brown played in their minor league teams for four years. He started in 1960 with the Duluth-Superior Dukes. He played in the outfield and had a .293 batting average. He hit 10 home runs and had 68 RBIs. He was even chosen for the All-Star team.
In 1961, he moved up to the Durham Bulls. He had the best batting average in the league at .324. He hit 15 home runs and had 72 RBIs. Later that year, he was promoted again to the Knoxville Smokies. He was named the "Most Popular Smoky."
In 1962, he played for the Denver Bears. He hit .300, but only hit four home runs. He felt like the ball wasn't flying as high for him. He started the 1963 season with the Syracuse Chiefs. Fans loved watching him play there.
Joining the Detroit Tigers
Gates Brown joined the Detroit Tigers on June 17, 1963. Just two days later, on June 19, he hit a home run in his very first time at bat! This happened at Fenway Park in Boston. He was only the 11th player in American League history to hit a home run in his first at-bat. He was also the third to hit a pinch-hit home run in his first at-bat.
In his next game, he hit a key single to win the game against the Kansas City Athletics. In 1963, he played in 55 games for the Tigers. He started 12 games in left field and was a pinch hitter in others.
In 1964, Gates played his first full season in the major leagues. He played in 123 games, mostly as the starting left fielder. He had a .262 batting average. He also hit a career-high 15 home runs and had 54 RBIs. He was a strong player for the team.
Becoming a Pinch-Hitting Star
In 1965, Gates started 44 games in left field. But a younger player, Willie Horton, became the main left fielder. Willie hit 29 home runs and had 104 RBIs. Gates still had 43 RBIs in fewer chances to bat, which was very good.
Gates was sometimes frustrated about not playing more. In 1966, he was mostly used as a pinch hitter. A pinch hitter is a player who bats in place of another player. He hit .266 overall, but he was excellent as a pinch hitter, batting .325.
In 1967, Gates still wanted to play more. He told a reporter, "I want to play. I want to help the team." He got to start more games early in the season because of injuries to other players. But in June, he hurt his left wrist crashing into an outfield wall. He missed most of the rest of the season. His batting average dropped to .187.
The Amazing 1968 Season
Gates Brown had an incredible season in 1968. He helped the Tigers win the American League championship and the World Series. That year was known as the "Year of the Pitcher" because pitchers were so dominant. But Gates had a batting average of .370! This was much higher than the league average of .230.
He only started 17 games that season. But he appeared in 49 more games as a pinch hitter. He was amazing at getting on base, with a .442 on-base percentage. He also hit for power, with a .685 slugging average. He rarely struck out, only four times in 104 chances to bat. As a pinch hitter, he batted .450, which is one of the best single-season pinch-hitting averages ever!
His pinch hits were very important for the Tigers. In early June, he had eight hits in 12 pinch-hit chances. He was especially good against the Boston Red Sox. On April 11, he hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning to win the game. He hit another pinch-hit home run against the Red Sox on August 10.
On August 11, in a double-header against the Red Sox, Gates was a hero. In the first game, he hit a game-winning home run in the 14th inning. In the second game, he again had the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning.
Gates was also known for his fun personality. One time, in August 1968, he was eating hot dogs in the dugout. His manager, Mayo Smith, suddenly told him to pinch hit. Gates quickly stuffed the hot dogs into his jersey to hide them! He then hit a double and had to slide headfirst into second base. When he stood up, he was covered in mustard and ketchup! His teammates and the other team's players laughed a lot.
His manager fined him $100. Gates told him, "I was hungry. Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house?"
A sportswriter named Joe Falls wrote that Gates Brown was "Everybody's favorite." He said Gates was easy to relate to because he had worked so hard to succeed. Another writer, Jim Murray, said Gates had "the most level swing since Joe DiMaggio." He also said Gates could hit almost anything a pitcher threw.
Later Years and Records
After his amazing 1968 season, Gates's batting average dropped in 1969 and 1970. But from 1971 to 1973, he hit 33 home runs and had 110 RBIs. In 1971, he had a great .338 batting average. He retired at the end of the 1975 season.
Gates Brown holds the American League record for the most pinch-hit chances in a career, with 414. He also has the American League career records for most pinch hits (107) and most pinch-hit home runs (16). He led the American League in pinch hits twice, in 1968 and 1974.
In his 13-season career, Gates Brown had a .257 batting average. He hit 84 home runs and had 322 runs batted in in 1,051 games.
Coaching Career
After he stopped playing, Gates Brown became a scout for the Tigers. He also taught young players in the rookie league. In 1978, he returned to the major leagues as the Tigers' hitting coach. He stayed in that job until the 1984 season.
Family and Later Life
Gates Brown moved to Detroit in 1960. He married Norma Jean Sterling in July 1962.
In 2009, Crestline High School renamed its baseball field "Gates Brown Field." They also started a scholarship fund in his honor. Gates said it was a great honor.
Gates Brown passed away from a heart attack on September 27, 2013, at age 74. He had been sick for several years.
Images for kids
-
Brown, around 1975
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
- List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
