Jeremy Brown
From BR Bullpen
Jeremy Scott Brown
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 226 lb.
- School University of Alabama
- Debut September 3, 2006
- Final Game October 1, 2006
- Born October 25, 1979 in Birmingham, AL USA
[edit] Biographical information
Jeremy Brown is a catcher who saw his only major league action with the Oakland Athletics in 2006, hitting .300 with 2 doubles in 5 games. Most of his appearances were as a DH.
Brown was born in Alabama and went to high school and college there. At the University of Alabama, he was Freshman 1st team All-America DH in 1999, Summer League First-Team All-American 1B in 2000, and Summer League First-Team All-American DH in 2001. In both 2001 and 2002, he was the Southeastern Conference All Star catcher.
He was picked in the supplemental first round of the 2002 amateur draft by the Athletics. That pick is much discussed in the book Moneyball, as Brown was a prototypical underrated player of the type favored by the A's at the type, because of his "bad body" and lack of pure athletic skill, married with outstanding plate discipline and a history of success in the college ranks. Most teams were focusing instead on players with raw tools or "projectability". In the famous quote reported by Michael Lewis, Oakland GM Billy Beane is supposed to have said "We're not selling jeans here" in reference to Brown, meaning that it didn't matter that he was overweight as long as he knew how to take a walk and could hit the ball a long way.
Brown started in the Northwest League, where his .486 on-base percentage after 10 games was a factor in moving him up to the California League for the rest of the season. There he also drew copious walks, posting .310/.444/.545. He then spent three seasons with the Midland RockHounds, from 2003-2005. His batting average ranged from .256 to .275, and while he continued to get many walks, his power was modest until the third season when he had 20 home runs. He was moved up to Triple A in 2006, getting 13 home runs with a .255 batting average in 77 games.
He had a chance to make the big league team, since the regular catchers were both past the age of 30. Jason Kendall was 32 in 2006, while Adam Melhuse was 34 that year. However, he never returned to the major leagues and has not played in the minor leagues since 2007, giving some ammunition to Beane's detractors who claimed that you could not completely ignore athletic ability in drafting, because, after all, baseball is an athletic contest.
