Ron Brand facts for kids

Ronald George Brand was born on January 13, 1940. He is an American who used to play professional baseball. Ron was a catcher in Major League Baseball, which is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada. He was also one of the very first players for the Montreal Expos team.

Ron Brand's Baseball Journey

Ron Brand's career in baseball began when he was young. He played for a few different teams in the big leagues. Let's learn more about his time in baseball!

Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Ron Brand first joined the Pittsburgh Pirates after finishing high school. He signed with them as a "free agent," which means he wasn't drafted but chose to sign with them. Before playing in the Major Leagues, he spent five years in the Pirates' "farm system." This is like a training program where players develop their skills in minor league teams before moving up to the main team.

Ron made his big league debut with the Pirates in 1963. On June 20 of that year, he hit his very first home run in a Major League game. It was a big moment for him!

Playing for the Houston Astros

After spending all of 1964 playing in the minor leagues again, Ron was chosen by the Houston Colt .45s in a special draft called the "Rule 5 draft." This draft allows teams to pick players from other teams' minor league rosters. The Colt .45s team later changed its name to the Houston Astros in 1965.

When the 1965 season started, another player named John Bateman was the main catcher for the Astros. However, Ron Brand soon took over the starting catcher job. On August 18, Ron hit his second home run of the season. This was also the third and last home run of his entire Major League career.

In 1966, John Bateman became the main catcher again, and Ron Brand played as the backup. They shared the catching duties pretty evenly in 1967. But in 1968, Ron started the season playing for the Astros' minor league team, the Oklahoma City 89ers. He only played in 29 games for the Astros that year.

Joining the Montreal Expos

On October 14, 1968, both John Bateman and Ron Brand were chosen by a brand new team, the Montreal Expos. This happened during a special draft for new teams joining Major League Baseball. The Expos picked Bateman first, and then they picked Ron Brand. This meant that Ron and John would continue to share catching duties, but this time for a new team in Montreal.

This arrangement of sharing the catching role only lasted for one season. In 1970, Ron Brand started playing other positions more often. He became a "utility infielder," which means he could play different positions in the infield, like first base, second base, third base, or shortstop. In 1971, he only caught for two innings in total, but he played in 22 games as a shortstop.

Ron spent all of 1972 playing for the Expos' minor league team. After that season, he was released from the team. He later joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1975. He spent that whole season in California, playing and also managing one of their minor league teams. After that, he retired from baseball.