Mordecai Brown
⭐ Hall of Fame 1949
Born: 10/19/1876 in Nyesville, IN, USA
Died: 2/14/1948 in Terre Haute, IN, USA
MLB Debut: 1903-04-19 | Final Game: 1916-09-04
Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 5'10" | Weight: 175 lbs
Full name: Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown
Biography
Mordecai Brown, born in 1876, was a dominant pitcher who made his mark in Major League Baseball from 1903 to 1916. Known for his exceptional skill on the mound, Brown finished his career with a remarkable record of 239 wins and 130 losses, complemented by an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 2.06. His ability to strike out batters was evident, as he amassed a total of 1,375 strikeouts during his career, alongside 49 saves. Brown's pitching prowess contributed significantly to the success of his teams, particularly during an era characterized by its competitive nature and evolving strategies in baseball.
Brown's unique style and effectiveness as a pitcher earned him the nickname "Three Finger," a reference to the deformity of his right hand, which he turned into an advantage by developing a distinctive grip on the baseball. He played a crucial role in the early 20th century, an era marked by the deadball period where pitching dominated the game. His contributions to the sport are remembered not only for his statistical achievements but also for his influence on future generations of pitchers who admired his resilience and technique. Brown's legacy remains a testament to the artistry of pitching and the rich history of baseball.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 239 | 130 | 481 | 332 | 271 | 55 | 49 | 3172.3 | 2708 | 725 | 43 | 673 | 1375 | 2.06 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | STL | NL | 9 | 13 | 26 | 24 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 201.0 | 231 | 58 | 59 | 83 | 2.60 | - |
| 1904 | CHC | NL | 15 | 10 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 212.3 | 155 | 44 | 50 | 81 | 1.86 | - |
| 1905 | CHC | NL | 18 | 12 | 30 | 24 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 249.0 | 219 | 60 | 44 | 89 | 2.17 | - |
| 1906 | CHC | NL | 26 | 6 | 36 | 32 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 277.3 | 198 | 32 | 61 | 144 | 1.04 | - |
| 1907 | CHC | NL | 20 | 6 | 34 | 27 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 233.0 | 180 | 36 | 40 | 107 | 1.39 | - |
| 1908 | CHC | NL | 29 | 9 | 44 | 31 | 27 | 9 | 5 | 312.3 | 214 | 51 | 49 | 123 | 1.47 | - |
| 1909 | CHC | NL | 27 | 9 | 50 | 34 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 342.7 | 246 | 50 | 53 | 172 | 1.31 | - |
| 1910 | CHC | NL | 25 | 14 | 46 | 31 | 27 | 6 | 7 | 295.3 | 256 | 61 | 64 | 143 | 1.86 | - |
| 1911 | CHC | NL | 21 | 11 | 53 | 27 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 270.0 | 267 | 84 | 55 | 129 | 2.80 | - |
| 1912 | CHC | NL | 5 | 6 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 88.7 | 92 | 26 | 20 | 34 | 2.64 | - |
| 1913 | CIN | NL | 11 | 12 | 39 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 173.3 | 174 | 56 | 44 | 41 | 2.91 | -1456.0 |
| 1914 | BRF | FL | 2 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 57.7 | 63 | 27 | 18 | 32 | 4.21 | 612.2 |
| 1914 | SLF | FL | 12 | 6 | 26 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 175.0 | 172 | 64 | 43 | 81 | 3.29 | 245.2 |
| 1915 | CHF | FL | 17 | 8 | 35 | 25 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 236.3 | 189 | 55 | 64 | 95 | 2.09 | 1779.2 |
| 1916 | CHC | NL | 2 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 48.3 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 21 | 3.91 | - |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 493 | 1143 | 93 | 235 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 74 | 8 | 44 | 199 | 0.206 | 0.236 | 0.248 | 0.483 | -4338.4 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | STL | NL | 26 | 77 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 0.195 | -378.1 |
| 1904 | CHC | NL | 31 | 89 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 0.213 | -281.1 |
| 1905 | CHC | NL | 31 | 93 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 0.140 | -573.9 |
| 1906 | CHC | NL | 36 | 98 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 0.204 | -361.9 |
| 1907 | CHC | NL | 36 | 85 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.153 | -479.8 |
| 1908 | CHC | NL | 46 | 121 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 0.207 | -532.2 |
| 1909 | CHC | NL | 50 | 125 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 0.176 | -628.7 |
| 1910 | CHC | NL | 46 | 103 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 0.175 | -530.0 |
| 1911 | CHC | NL | 53 | 91 | 8 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0.253 | -186.9 |
| 1912 | CHC | NL | 16 | 31 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0.290 | 0.0 |
| 1913 | CIN | NL | 39 | 54 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0.204 | -288.4 |
| 1914 | BRF | FL | 9 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.211 | 0.0 |
| 1914 | SLF | FL | 26 | 59 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0.254 | 0.0 |
| 1915 | CHF | FL | 36 | 82 | 10 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0.293 | -2.9 |
| 1916 | CHC | NL | 12 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.250 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.100 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | WS | CHN | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| 1908 | WS | CHN | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
| 1907 | WS | CHN | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| 1906 | WS | CHN | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.333 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 57.7 | 50 | 19 | 13 | 35 | 2.97 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | WS | CHN | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 18.0 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 5.50 |
| 1908 | WS | CHN | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11.0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.00 |
| 1907 | WS | CHN | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 |
| 1906 | WS | CHN | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 19.7 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 3.66 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| OF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | 481 | 202 | 171 | 843 | 36 | 43 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | SLN | P | 26 | 0 | 5 | 60 | 3 | 7 |
| 1904 | CHN | P | 26 | 23 | 20 | 50 | 5 | 2 |
| 1904 | CHN | 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1904 | CHN | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1905 | CHN | P | 30 | 24 | 18 | 66 | 4 | 3 |
| 1906 | CHN | P | 36 | 32 | 18 | 81 | 2 | 4 |
| 1907 | CHN | P | 34 | 27 | 20 | 75 | 1 | 5 |
| 1907 | CHN | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1908 | CHN | P | 44 | 31 | 35 | 73 | 0 | 3 |
| 1909 | CHN | P | 50 | 34 | 18 | 83 | 3 | 6 |
| 1910 | CHN | P | 46 | 31 | 10 | 92 | 4 | 3 |
| 1911 | CHN | P | 53 | 0 | 8 | 53 | 1 | 0 |
| 1912 | CHN | P | 15 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| 1913 | CIN | P | 39 | 0 | 5 | 40 | 4 | 3 |
| 1914 | BRF | P | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 1914 | SLF | P | 26 | 0 | 6 | 40 | 3 | 1 |
| 1915 | CHF | P | 35 | 0 | 6 | 87 | 5 | 5 |
| 1915 | CHF | OF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1916 | CHN | P | 12 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 481 |
| Left Field | 1 |
| Center Field | 1 |
| Right Field | 1 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1909 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P2 |
| 1909 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P3 |
| 1908 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P1 |
| 1908 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | P4 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 27th | 1.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1911 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 17th | 4.0 | 64 | 0 |