Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 150

A Return to the Minors

With his big league years behind him, Brown accepted an invitation from his old Cubs teammate and 1916 manager also released, Joe Tinker, now manager of the Columbus Senators of the American Association, to pitch in Ohio’s capital. In those days the minors were not as far from the majors as they are today. Since the majors didn’t pay the kind of money they do today, numerous players who would have made it, opted to play near home. They wouldn’t have to be away from their families for six months, and they supplemented their salaries with local endorsements and barnstorming.

Brown was 40 years old by then and posted a 10-12 record, with a respectable to all but himself 2.77 ERA. Mordecai filled in as manager whenever Tinker was out scouting players. An article in the July 11, 1918, “Columbus Citizen,” notes that while playing in Louisville, Brown received more applause than the home team did. His popularity may in part explain the large fan attendance Columbus enjoyed while he played there. In 1917 the Senators drew just under 105,000; in a city with a population not much larger than that.