by Mark Langill
Former Dodger Tommy Brown, the youngest Major Leaguer to hit a home run and the last surviving member from Jackie Robinson’s historic rookie season in 1947, passed away on Wednesday in Florida. He was 97.
The Dodgers signed Brown at age 16 in 1944 when Major League rosters were depleted due to players serving in World War II.
The Brooklyn native was among 2,500 players who attended a tryout camp in 1943. Brown played baseball with other neighborhood kids, usually in the streets and other concrete surfaces, in his spare time when not working with his uncle unloaded barges on the docks of New York.
Although he went to the tryout without a glove or baseball shoes, Brown at age 15 made an impression. He was offered a chance to attend the team’s 1944 Spring Training camp in Bear Mountain, New York.
The Dodgers signed Brown to a Minor League contract and he batted .297 in 91 games at Class B Newport News.
With shortstop Pee Wee Reese in military service and manager Leo Durocher not wanting to return to his old shortstop position at age 39, the Dodgers promoted Brown to Brooklyn in 1944. At age 16 years and 241 days, Brown became the youngest position player to appear in a Major League game on Aug. 3, 1944. Brown was also the second-youngest MLB player behind Cincinnati Reds pitcher Joe Nuxhall, who was 15 years and 316 days old when he made his debut against St. Louis on June 10, 1944.
Brown was nicknamed “Buckshot” because of his often erratic throws at shortstop. Brown made 16 errors in 46 games at shortstop and batted .164 with no home runs and eight RBI, but Durocher kept Brown in the lineup because he was a better option at shortstop over catcher Bobby Bragan.
The 1944 Dodgers (63–91) finished seventh in the eight-team National League, 42 games behind first-place St. Louis. The team used 53 players, including three over age 40: catcher Ray Hayworth, pitcher Curt Davis and outfielder Paul Waner.
Brown is the youngest player in Major League Baseball’s Modern Era (since 1900) to hit a home run at 17 years, 257 days old. He achieved the feat on Aug. 20, 1945, during the Dodgers’ 11–1 loss against Pittsburgh at Ebbets Field. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound right-handed hitter homered in the seventh inning off left-hander Preacher Roe.
In a 2009 interview with baseball historian Bill Klink, Brown said the home run pitch from Roe was a fastball. Asked about his reception after the home run, Brown said, “After I got to the dugout, they gave me the silent treatment. Then they mobbed me.”
In 37 games in 1945, Brown batted .245 with two home runs and 19 RBI.
Brown entered the Army at age 18 in 1946. When he returned to the Dodgers for Spring Training in 1947, his playing time was reduced as other veterans were returning from military service. Because of his two years of Major League service, the Dodgers couldn’t send him to the Minor Leagues without passing him through waivers.
Brown appeared in 15 games with the Dodgers in 1947, batting .235 with two RBI.
In 272 games with the Dodgers between 1944 and 1951, Brown slashed .237.280/.338/.619 with 15 home runs and 88 RBI. Brown also appeared in two games as a pinch-hitter in the 1949 World Series against the Yankees.
Brown was traded by the Dodgers to the Philadelphia Phillies on June 8, 1951 in exchange for outfielder Dick Whitman.
Overall, Brown batted .241 in 494 games with the Dodgers, Phillies (1951–52) and Chicago Cubs (1952–53).
Brown is survived by his wife Charlene, his sister, four children, nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Tommy Brown, the youngest Dodger to homer, passes away at 97 was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.