#19 Gates Brown - Detroit Tigers

Willliam James Brown
Detroit Tigers
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  220
Born:  May 2, 1939, Crestline, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1963-1975
Died:  September 13, 2013, Detroit, MI (age 74)

Gates Brown spent his entire big league career with the Tigers, serving as a clutch left-handed bat off the bench for 13 seasons.  Brown won two World Series rings with the Tigers - his first as a player in 1968 and his second as the team's hitting coach in 1984.  Of his 1,051 career games, only 430 appearances saw Brown on the field playing defense.  He was used a pinch-hitter 522 times and he still holds the American League records for most pinch-hit at-bats (414), pinch-hits (107) and pinch-hit home runs (16).  His clutch hitting in 1968 is credited with helping the Tigers reach the World Series.  Brown was a career .257 hitter with 84 home runs and 322 RBIs.  He served as the Tigers' first base or hitting coach for seven seasons between 1978 and 1984.

I don't like to copy and paste passages verbatim, but I couldn't resist with this excerpt from Brown's Wikipedia biography:  "On August 7, 1968, Brown wasn't in the starting lineup, and decided to grab two hot dogs from the clubhouse.  He was ordered by manager Mayo Smith to pinch hit.  He notoriously 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 stood 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 replied, '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.'"

Building the Set

December 25, 2020 from Georgetown, DE - Card #198
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged.  Hunting specifically for first series cards, this was one of the surprisingly more difficult cards to track down.  Most of the versions of the card available for sale on eBay before the holidays were badly off center and I wanted to hold out for something more well-centered.  I found our card from eBay seller travelingtransitman_3 for the reasonable winning bid of $2.95.

The Card / Tigers Team Set
Brown wore #26 beginning in 1963 through his retirement as a player in 1975.  This is his second Topps card, and I believe the Old English D on his helmet has been painted on by Topps.  His 1964 Topps card looks to use a photo from the same session and features Brown wearing a logo-less helmet.  On the back, Brown's first home run in his major league debut is highlighted.  On June 19, 1963, and with the Tigers trailing the Red Sox, 4-1 in the top of the 5th inning, Brown pinch-hit for Tigers pitcher Don Mossi and hit a home run off Red Sox pitcher Bob Heffner (#199).  The Tigers would go on to lose the game, 9-2.

Brown appeared on 12 flagship Topps cards throughout his career, and there's little to no variety to the dozen cards.  With the exception of only his first and last cards, he's shown holding a bat and either getting ready to swing or already in his follow-through.

1965 Season
Brown appeared in 96 games, making 44 starts in left field and 7 starts in right field.  He had lost most of his playing time to fellow prospect Willie Horton (#206).  As a pinch-hitter, Brown hit. 265 (9 fo 34) with a home run and 7 RBIs.  Overall, he hit .256 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs.

1964 Topps #471

1968 Topps #583

1970 Topps #98

1972 Topps #187

1975 Topps #371

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #471
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12):  1964-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1990 Pacific Senior League #199

55 - Brown non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/9/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia 

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