Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 19

Truth be told his throws from third to first were quite accurate, but the first basemen were not always able to handle the movement on them.

No records exist for these “leagues,” but while likely not bad Brown’s hitting prowess was not enough to attract professional attention.

As chance would have it, while playing third base for Coxville, Mordecai was called on to fill in for Coxville’s regular pitcher against the neighboring town of Brazil. The year was 1898, and the pitcher’s absence turned into a blessing for Mordecai.

Brown’s unique pitching hand enabled him to throw a bewildering pitch with lots of movement. Although the diving ball was a problem for some first basemen when Brown was an infielder, it was an advantage when he pitched. Despite having what had seemed like a terrible handicap, Brown’s pitching performance that day was daunting. The Brazil manager was impressed, and the team offered Brown more money to play for them, but he didn’t jump until he’d completed the season.

Fred Massey, Brown's great-nephew, said; "It didn't only curve, it curved and dropped at the same time. It made it extremely hard to hit and if you did hit it, you hit it into the ground because you couldn't get under it."