William James "Gates" Brown (born in Crestline, Ohio on May 2, 1939) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers (1963-1975). For the meat company see Topps Meat Company. The Topps Company Inc Crestline is a city in Crawford and Richland Counties in the U Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
In a 13-season career, Brown was a . 257 hitter with 84 home runs and 322 RBI in 1051 games. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively Games played (most often abbreviated as G or GP) is a Statistic used in Team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has
Brown divided his major league career as an outfielder, first baseman, pinch hitter and DH. Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in Baseball farthest from the batter First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a Baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run For other uses see Pinch hitter (cricket. In Baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. In Baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6 He is best remembered for his contribution to the 1968 World Series champion Detroit Tigers. The 1968 World Series featured the defending champion St Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in 7 games for their first championship In his pinch-hitting at bats in the 1968 season, Brown hit for a . 450 batting average, the eighth highest single season batting average for a pinch hitter (minimum 30 at bats) in major league history.
On June 19, 1963, coming off the bench, Brown became the American League's 11th player to hit a home run in his first at bat. Athletics Marathon May 4 &mdash Pan American Games Marathon, Sao Paulo Brazil Men's The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League ( AL) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in In Baseball, an at bat ( AB) or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including Batting average, On base A popular figure among Tigers' fans, Brown may not have had the defensive skills to make the everyday lineup but he has been considered one of the premier pinch hitters in MLB history.
In his career, Brown collected 107 pinch hits, including 16 pinch homers, and also led twice the AL in pinch hits (1968 and 1974). For other uses see Pinch hitter (cricket. In Baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. His most productive season came in 1964, when he posted career-highs in home runs (15), RBI (54), runs (65), hits (116), doubles (22), triples (6), stolen bases (11) and atbats (426) in 123 games. Athletics (track and field Indoor Competition March 6 &mdash Tom O'Hara sets a new world record for the indoor Mile In Baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around first second and third base and returns safely to Home plate, touching In Baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H) sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches In Baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching Second base without being called out by the Umpire In Baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching Third base after hitting the ball with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay (see In Baseball, a stolen base occurs when a Baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the Pitcher is delivering the ball to Home plate
While 1968 was called the year of the pitcher for most of baseball, overall batting being only . Athletics Marathon December 8 &mdash Fukuoka Marathon, Japan Men's Winner Bill In Baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the Pitcher's mound toward the Catcher to begin each play with the goal of 230 for the year, the potent Tigers attack scored 671 runs. That year was the batting high water mark for Gates Brown who, with remarkable regularity, came off the bench with clutch hits to spark dramatic ninth inning come-back victories. Brown's timely hitting was crucial in sealing the Tiger's trip to the World Championship. Starting in only 17 games that season, but Brown appeared in 49 more as a pinch-hitter, banging out a torrid . 370 (34-for-92) with a . 442 on-base percentage and a . In Baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP (sometimes referred to as on-base average ', as the statistic is rarely presented as a true Percentage) 685 slugging average. In Baseball statistics, slugging percentage (abbreviated SLG) is a popular measure of the power of a hitter.
On August 7, 1968, Brown made history. He wasn't in the starting lineup, so he decided to grab two hot dogs from the clubhouse. He was ordered by manager Mayo Smith to pinch hit. Edward Mayo Smith ( January 17, 1915 – November 24, 1977) was an American player manager, and scout in He stuffed the hot dogs in his jersey to hide them from his manager.
"I always wanted to get a hit every time I went to the plate. But this was one time I didn't want to get a hit. I'll be damned if I didn't smack one in the gap and I had to slide into second -- head first, no less. I was safe with a double. But when I stoop up, I had mustard and ketchup and smashed hot dogs and buns all over me.
"The fielders took one look at me, turned their backs and damned near busted a gut laughing at me. My teammates in the dugout went crazy. " After fining Brown $100, Smith said, "What the hell were you doing eating on the bench in the first place?" Brown: "I decided to tell him the truth. I said, 'I was hungry. Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house?'"[1]
From 1971-73 Brown hit 33 home runs with 110 RBI in 571 at-bats, including a . 338 average in 1971 (66-for-195). He retired at the end of the 1975 season. Athletics For an extensive coverage see 1975 in athletics (track and field Marathon August
In 1978, Brown returned to the Tigers as their hitting coach, a position he would hold through the championship season of 1984, before giving way to Vada Pinson. Vada Edward Pinson Jr ( August 11 1938, Memphis Tennessee - October 21 1995, Oakland California) was an American
See also
External links
The 1968 Detroit Tigers won the 1968 World Series, defeating the St In Major League Baseball, the Designated hitter (DH is used in the batting lineup in place of the Pitcher through a rule adopted by the American League For other uses see Pinch hitter (cricket. In Baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic