Tommy Brown, the last living member of the historic 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, died on the age of 97 this week.
Brown, who played nine years in Major League Baseball within the Nineteen Forties and early ’50s and parts of seven with the Dodgers, passed away on Wednesday at a rehabilitation center in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
“He had a pleasant life and he loved his sports,” his daughter Paula Brown Caplice told the Associated Press.
Brown debuted for the Dodgers on Aug. 3, 1944, on the age of 16 when he began at shortstop against the Cubs at Ebbets Field, and after stepping away through the 1946 season to serve in the US Army, he got here back and was a part of the 1947 Dodgers club that featured rookie Jackie Robinson, who broke the colour line.
Brown signed with the Dodgers following a tryout with the team in 1943 and played the primary 4 months of the 1944 season within the minor leagues.
When he made his big league debut in the summertime of 1944, he hit a double in what became a loss to the Cubs.
He became the youngest player to hit a serious league home run on Aug. 20, 1945, when he hit a solo blast against Pirates pitcher Preacher Roe when he was 17 years, 257 days old.
It’s a record that also stands today.
“The Dodgers signed Preacher Roe a number of years later. My dad joked his home run ability went down when Preacher Roe signed. They became good friends,” Brown Caplice said.
He hit one other home run that season, making him the young and second-youngest player ever to go deep.
He finished that season with a .245 batting average.
As a member of the 1947 Dodgers team, Brown’s daughter said that he stood up against a petition that circulated throughout the team protesting Robinson’s addition.
“He said, ‘I’m not signing anything like that,’” Brown Caplice said. “I assumed that was pretty standup for a 20-year-old on a club with numerous senior players attempting to bully. That told me who he really was.”
Brown would go on to look within the 1949 World Series against the Yankees and spent his time with the Dodgers until he was traded to the Phillies in the course of the 1951 season.
He then had his contact sold to the Cubs a 12 months later.
The Brooklyn native played within the majors until 1953 and continued his pro baseball profession until 1959 within the minor leagues before he retired.
He ended his big league tenure with a .241 batting average and 31 home runs.
Tommy Brown, the last living member of the historic 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, died on the age of 97 this week.
Brown, who played nine years in Major League Baseball within the Nineteen Forties and early ’50s and parts of seven with the Dodgers, passed away on Wednesday at a rehabilitation center in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
“He had a pleasant life and he loved his sports,” his daughter Paula Brown Caplice told the Associated Press.
Brown debuted for the Dodgers on Aug. 3, 1944, on the age of 16 when he began at shortstop against the Cubs at Ebbets Field, and after stepping away through the 1946 season to serve in the US Army, he got here back and was a part of the 1947 Dodgers club that featured rookie Jackie Robinson, who broke the colour line.
Brown signed with the Dodgers following a tryout with the team in 1943 and played the primary 4 months of the 1944 season within the minor leagues.
When he made his big league debut in the summertime of 1944, he hit a double in what became a loss to the Cubs.
He became the youngest player to hit a serious league home run on Aug. 20, 1945, when he hit a solo blast against Pirates pitcher Preacher Roe when he was 17 years, 257 days old.
It’s a record that also stands today.
“The Dodgers signed Preacher Roe a number of years later. My dad joked his home run ability went down when Preacher Roe signed. They became good friends,” Brown Caplice said.
He hit one other home run that season, making him the young and second-youngest player ever to go deep.
He finished that season with a .245 batting average.
As a member of the 1947 Dodgers team, Brown’s daughter said that he stood up against a petition that circulated throughout the team protesting Robinson’s addition.
“He said, ‘I’m not signing anything like that,’” Brown Caplice said. “I assumed that was pretty standup for a 20-year-old on a club with numerous senior players attempting to bully. That told me who he really was.”
Brown would go on to look within the 1949 World Series against the Yankees and spent his time with the Dodgers until he was traded to the Phillies in the course of the 1951 season.
He then had his contact sold to the Cubs a 12 months later.
The Brooklyn native played within the majors until 1953 and continued his pro baseball profession until 1959 within the minor leagues before he retired.
He ended his big league tenure with a .241 batting average and 31 home runs.
