Jimmy Brown (baseball)

Infobox MLB retired|bgcolor1=#c41e3a
bgcolor2=#c41e3a
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Jimmy Brown
position=2B/3B/SS
bats=Both
throws=Right
debutdate=April 23
debutyear=by|1937
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=September 15
finalyear=by|1946
finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.279
stat2label=H
stat2value=980
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=319
teams=
*St. Louis Cardinals (1937–1943)
*Pittsburgh Pirates (1946)
highlights=
*All-Star: 1942

James Roberson Brown (April 25, 1910 — December 29, 1977) was a Major League Baseball infielder and coach. Born in Jamesville, North Carolina, he played college baseball at North Carolina State University.

He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals afterwards and made his major league debut two days before his 27th birthday. He made an immediate impact, not only scoring 9 triples his rookie year, but also leading the league in sacrifice hits with 26.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/brownji03.shtml|title=Jimmy Brown Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=2007-05-06] His 1938 season was not as impressive, but he did manage to increase his batting average over .300. Brown had a career year in by|1939, not only leading the league in at-bats with 645, but finishing 6th in MVP voting. He began being known as a reliable leadoff hitter and as an infielder that the Cardinals could put anywhere, having played by|1936 primarily as a second baseman, by|1939 as a shortstop, and by|1941 as a third baseman.

After a decent season in 1940, he came back with another great year in 1941, tying a career high in triples with 9, earning a career high batting average with .306, and finishing 4th in MVP voting. This, however, was still not enough to earn an all-star appearance. In 1942 he managed to earn his lone all-star appearance and finish 13th in MVP voting. Despite this and leading the league in at-bats with 606, his batting average dipped to .256, a career low. Despite this, during the 1942 World Series, he led all Cardinals' hitters in batting average with .300 en route to their World Series victory. [cite web|url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/B/Brown_Jimmy.stm|title=Jimmy Brown - BaseballLibrary.com|accessdate=2007-05-06]

Brown enlisted in the Air Force after playing 34 games during the by|1943 season. [cite web|url=http://www.garybed.co.uk/those_who_served.htm|title=Those Who Served|accessdate=2007-05-06] When World War II ended, his contract was sold for $30,000 on January 5, 1946, to the Pittsburgh Pirates; he played the by|1946 season as a utility infielder before being released by the Pirates on November 15.cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Jimmy-Brown.shtml|title=Jimmy Brown Baseball Statistics|accessdate=2007-05-06]

Upon retirement, he became a manager in the Pittsburgh farm system, with the Indianapolis Indians in 1947 and the New Orleans Pelicans in 1948. [cite web|url=http://www.neworleansbaseball.com/history.html|title=History of New Orleans Baseball|accessdate=2007-05-08] Brown then returned to the National League as a coach for the Boston Braves, working for three seasons (1949-51) under his old Cardinal skipper, Billy Southworth.

After leaving Boston in 1952, he was a manager for minor league teams in the farm systems of the Cardinals, Braves and Cincinnati Reds. He died December 29, 1977 in Bath, North Carolina.

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=brownji03 Jimmy Brown at Baseball Almanac]